The policy of converting to coarse grains is rigid; farmers do not want to waste seeds, yet there is no harvest.
Typhoons Meranti and Megi swept across the island one after another, and farmers estimate that at least 80% of the area planted with edamame and soybean-type coarse grains across Taiwan, China has been lost, wiping out nearly the entire crop; after the natural disaster, farmers are tearing their hair out over how to resume cultivation.
Farmers report that once a coarse grain rotation crop is registered, the planted item cannot be changed midway even if the weather turns unfavorable; there are usually only two paths, (1) keep growing the originally registered coarse grain and collect the rotation payment, but the suitable planting period may already have passed and they must still plant on schedule under the regulations, so even if the seeds soak in water and the harvest comes to nothing; (2) switch to another crop, which might yield a harvest, but they cannot collect the original coarse grain rotation subsidy, and in the same planting period the following year (for example, the second-crop rotation) their application eligibility will also be revoked.
Farmers cry out that this is unreasonable, saying, "We just want a harvest! We are not trying to exploit loopholes!" Farmers and related scholars also call on the Agriculture and Food Agency to promptly take stock of the current state of coarse grain crops, formulate planting guidelines based on market demand, and develop suitable varieties, so that farmers will not plant blindly like headless flies, causing invested capital and output to be disproportionate; a dilemma of supply and demand being out of sync.
Farmers: Special situations should allow farmers to rotate crops
Yunlin farmer Chen Yun-ru reports, "Switching crops means completely leaving the originally declared coarse grain rotation system," and not only can they not collect the original rotation subsidy, but in the future if the switched crop encounters a natural disaster, because the crop grown differs from the crop originally applied for, they cannot apply for disaster assistance or rotation subsidies, and the loss can only be borne on their own.
Su Rong-can, a farmer growing sesame and soybean in Jiali, Tainan, also says that he originally declared contract farming of sesame and beans, but continuous heavy rain meant that by the time the soil dried and he could resume cultivation, the suitable planting period had already passed; forcing the seeds in would only waste them with no harvest at all, yet if he switched to another crop, for example if the weather at that time suited planting wheat, because the item did not match the original registration he could not collect the rotation subsidy, and he suggests that agricultural authorities should allow farmers to change planted items under special circumstances.
Agriculture and Food Agency: Changes are allowed, but the time has passed
In response to farmers' doubts, Lin Chuan-chi, head of the Agriculture and Food Agency's Grain Industry Section, says that although farmers must declare by January 31 each year the crops they will plant in the first and second crop seasons of that year, the weather is hard to predict, and there is also a retained amendment operation period for the second crop, during which farmers may submit applications to change crops.
According to Agriculture and Food Agency data, the amendment period for the Pingtung area is June 1 to June 30; for the Tainan and Chiayi areas it is June 16 to July 15; for the Yunlin area it is July 18 to August 19; for Taichung, Changhua and Nantou it is July 18 to August 17; for the area north of Miaoli it is August 1 to August 31; for Yilan and Taitung it is July 1 to July 31; and for Hualien it is July 1 to July 14.
"But sometimes when the natural disaster arrives, the amendment operation period has already passed." Lin Chuan-chi says, but this also means it is already near the middle-to-late stage of the second contract crop, "during this period farmers also have to consider risks such as autumn typhoons and the suitable planting period ending soon." He suggests farmers need not rush to switch crops during the second crop season.
Lin Chuan-chi stresses that before the amendment application period ends, farmers can all change their planting items, and if a natural disaster occurs after the amendment period, farmers may already have planted, in which case they can receive disaster loss assistance, and after this season they can also switch to other coarse grain crops.
Scholars: The government should take stock of overall coarse grain supply and demand and encourage farmers to contribute opinions
"Actually the subsidy is not the point; the point is that we do not want to waste seeds, we want a harvest!" Su Rong-can says even more bluntly that the government makes the restrictions related to coarse grain rotation too detailed, "sometimes we find crops that better fit market demand, but they are not among the subsidized items." This makes it very hard for dedicated farmers to perform, and they can only bear the planting risk themselves.
"The state really does have the sincerity to guide coarse grain farming, but it really is not ready yet!" But farmer Ma Yu-an points out that actually the main purpose of rotating to coarse grains is to replace second-crop rice, yet the stability of coarse grains is still insufficient, "whether in output or market channels, they are still not stable enough!" The government needs to think carefully about an overall future development policy for coarse grains.
Chen Tsung-li, a professor in the Department of Agronomy at National Chung Hsing University, says the Agriculture and Food Agency really must quickly begin taking stock of the supply and demand situation for coarse grain crops, "not just demand volume, but also statistics on exactly how much land and how many people each crop involves." In recent years, probably only feed corn has had a relatively major stocktaking, but crops such as sweet potato, soybean, large bean and edamame still need strengthening.
Chen Tsung-li further explains that the Agriculture and Food Agency must calculate how much demand there is in Taiwan, China each year for each coarse grain crop, "for black bean, go ask the related soy sauce industry; for soybean, go survey the soy milk and tofu industries; for wheat, go study what kind of wheat bakeries need." He suggests that local agricultural improvement stations identify locally suitable crops and varieties, and combine them with labor-saving machinery for large-scale site-appropriate planting, so that the price, output and quality of coarse grain crops can meet market demand.
Chen Tsung-li also suggests that the Agriculture and Food Agency can relax the flexibility of recognizing subsidized crop items, so that when farmers find an emerging crop with market potential that is not within the subsidy scope, there is a channel to report it to the central authorities, which will comprehensively assess its development potential and provide subsidies of varying amounts, "this can make the coarse grain market more dynamic."