Windbreak and irrigation canal of Yunlin tidelands. (File photo)
Taiwan already is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Only about 29 per cent of the area of less than 14,000 square miles is arable, and it must support a population of more than 11,500,000. Provincial government statistics show that from 1936 to 1959, farmlands were increased by only 2.3 per cent while population was soaring 85 per cent. Even though improved techniques and the incentives of the land-to-the-tiller reforms have almost doubled agricultural production, the food supply has barely kept pace with the new mouths.
Government and people have combined to write a dramatic Taiwan success story in the last decade and a half. National income had reached NT$58 billion (US$1.4 billion) by 1962, and per capita income was up to NT$4,864 (US$121.6). Industrial production was NT$16.3 billion (US$407 million) and agricultural production NT$18 billion (US$450 million). Since 1946, agriculture has gained 369 per cent, forestry 744 per cent, and fisheries 627 per cent. Yet these advances—highly praised by American aid authorities—cannot obviate the fact that land limitation eventually must bring a crisis in food supply and a threat to further progress.
Taiwan's land is carefully managed. The arable 29 per cent breaks down into 16 per cent for paddy, 12 per cent for dry-farming upland, and 1 per cent as farm woodland or windbreaks. Projects to expand land use include tidelands reclamation, grasslands development, and land consolidation.
The provincial government estimates 53,800 hectares (132,886 acres) of tidelands can be reclaimed. When all projects are completed, the lands are expected to have annual yields of 12,000 metric tons of seafood, 240,000 of salt, 100,000 of rice, 112,000 of sugar, and small amounts of timber. Livelihood will be provided for 100,000 persons.
Taiwan's tidelands are largely the result of western slope rivers that transport large amounts of sediment to the sea during flood seasons. The sediment forms sandbars at the river mouths. Further affected by littoral currents, tides, waves, and monsoons, these sandbars are moved southward to form tidelands.
Accelerated Growth
At Yunlin, engineering works have accelerated the growth of tidal land, much as in West Germany and Holland. Elevation has been raised at a rate of 4-5 centimeters and even as high as 10 centimeters annually. Soil fertility also is improved, an urgent necessity because torrential river flows tend to deposit coarse sand close to the coast and fine particles at the bottom farther out. Much of the tidal land along the western coast is sandy and unfavorable for crops. Deposition works retain the clay and improve the sandy soil to loam or sandy loam. According to experimental records at Yunlin, 10 per cent of clay can be added in the two years after completion of deposition works.
Taiwan's tidal land spreads along the western coast from the Laochai River of Taoyuan county in the north to the Erhjen River of Tainan county in the south, totalling 282 kilometers (175 miles) in length and 53,800 hectares (132,886 acres) in area. According to topography and correlation between the streams, the tidal lands can be divided into seven regions:
Except for the Tainan and Taichung areas, reclaimed land will be used for agriculture. Fish ponds will be constructed at Tainan because of the high salt concentration and amount of sunshine. Part of the reclaimed area near Taichung will be used as the site for an industrial district in coordination with the development of Taichung Harbor.
Sugar Cane Project
The first phase of the reclamation project, which will cost US$2,193,750, calls for reclamation of 1,600 hectares (3,952 acres) near the estuary of the Tsengwen River in the Tainan area. It will increase Taiwan's fish supply by 3,500 metric tons a year.
Of the 53,800 hectares scheduled for development, 30,000 (74,100 acres) will be turned over to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen for management.
There are 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) of tidal land lying along the Hsinchu coast. The Taiwan Sugar Corporation intends to use the reclaimed area for sugar cane. Tasco and the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction will provide equipment and financing. An experimental farm of 133 hectares (329 acres) has been operated on the Hsinchu tidelands since 1959. Rice yield per hectare was 9,500 Taiwanese catties (12,635 lbs.) in the last harvest, higher than for normal paddy. The project is expected to boost sugar production about one-fifth to more than a million tons annually. Sugar is Taiwan's biggest export earner and will return close to US$100 million this year.
The Yunlin tidal land is located at the mouth of Choshui River in the central area of the west coast. Development was authorized by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation after a year of investigation and surveys. A dike 30 km. (18.6 miles) long will be built to reclaim an area of 2,620 hectares (6,461 acres). Construction expense will be NT$235,000,000 (US$5,875,000).
The Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen already has been successful in the exploitation of tidal land. An area of 83 hectares (205 acres) near Hsinchu has been utilized as an experimental area. To develop the Hsinchu tidelands, a dike of 18.63 km. (11.55 miles) will be built to regain 1,112 hectares (2,747 acres). Expenses are estimated at US$3,368 per hectare, which is considered high.
A test has been undertaken on the 83-hectare site. A dike of 2,200 km. (1,364 miles) was built, channels dredged, and roads built in 1959 and 1960. Crop experiments are proceeding.
In old China, land reclamation was chiefly an individual matter, although the government sometimes gave encouragement with tax exemptions. Except for river reclamation, little was done. Tidelands reclamation is too expensive for individuals.
Large-Scale Effort
In modern China, the first large-scale reclamation of tidal land was carried out by Chang Chien of Nantung, Kiangsu Province. An honors graduate of Hanlin Academy in 1894, he was appointed an officer of the Ching government at Peking for a year. Then he was called by Liu Kun-I, the governor of Kiangsu and Chekiang Provinces, to return to Nantung. After the Boxer episode of 1900, the Emperor ordered the nation to increase production. Chang Chien was entrusted by Governor Liu with organizing the Tung Hai Reclamation and Pastoral Company. He began to reclaim the southern sector of Kiangsu tidal land. In 10 years, Chang had reclaimed 7,547 hectares (18,641 acres).
Peanuts grow well in reclaimed tidal area. (File photo)
Chang Chien's process was similar to the modern method. He organized a company, paid the land price to the government, and obtained ownership of the land. He divided the land into eight districts and built a dike. For two or three years he planted grass and grazed cattle. Organic fertilizers were added. The land was desalted by pumping and draining away salt water.
Chang Chien recorded that 87 per cent of the land was to be arable. The rest would be used for dikes, roads, ditches, and canals. Reclamation expenses for each hectare was one-fourth of the land price. One kilometer of main dike enclosed arable land of 95 hectares (230.65 acres). Chang Chien's enterprise was economically operated.
A large-scale attempt to develop tidal land in Taiwan came in 1940 when the island was occupied by Japan. Anticipating the Pacific War, Japan sought to boost food production. The Taiwan Reclamation Corporation and Nitsko Sugar Corporation were encouraged to carry out reclamation work. TRC was supposed to develop 6,100 hectares (15,067 acres) and Nitsko Sugar 1,227 hectares (3,031 acres). By 1942, an area of 872 hectares (2,154 acres) had been reclaimed. It is now called the Lun Pei Reclamation Region.
Interest Revives
Taiwan was restored to China in 1945. The government became interested in reclamation in 195-7 when JCRR reported that there were 50,000-60,000 hectares of recoverable tidal land along the west coast of Taiwan.
In that autumn, the government allotted all tidal lands from Yunlin to Hsinchu to the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen for reclamation. Experimental work has proceeded ever since. Implementation is about to begin under the new Tidal Land Development Committee.
Grassland development is new to China. Farmers have looked on grass as grazing feed or a source of fuel or thatching material. In cooperation with the provincial department of agriculture and forestry, JCRR started extensive observation of forage and cover crops in late 1953. By 1957, an accelerated program was emphasizing tropical and subtropical legumes.
Large Highland Area
According to JCRR, about 32 per cent of Taiwan's land is above 1,000 meters (3,280 ft.) in elevation with shallow soil, is exceptionally rocky and steep, or is covered with arrow bamboo that could be eradicated only at great expense. Most of this land is suitable only for forestry. Some of the steepest areas that cannot sustain tree growth should be maintained as watershed protective areas.
The remaining 39 per cent of land comprises foothill and tableland areas between 100 and 1,000 meters (328 ft. and 3,280 ft.). The slopes are often quite steep but much of the land is suitable for raising grasses and legumes.
According to a survey of 1,400,000 hectares (3,458,000 acres) of land having an elevation of 1,000 meters (3,280 ft.) or less, a total of 317,000 hectares (782,990 acres) would constitute the principal area for grassland and livestock development. Future expansion could take place at elevation above 1,000 meters.
Planted to good species of grasses and legumes and with adequate fertilization and management, such grasslands would support a million head of cattle or more than three times the present population.
Forage is the cheapest feed for livestock. On Taiwan it is important that draft cattle, cattle, and goats be fed predominantly on forage so as not to compete for grain and concentrates with humans and such grain-consuming animals as hogs and poultry. Protein feeds are in short supply and large quantities of concentrates are being fed to dairy cows.
A 1960 survey of dairy farmers in southern Taiwan indicated they fed their cattle an average of 40 kilograms (88 lbs.) of sugar cane tops and 6.5 kg. (14.3 lbs.) of concentrates per day. If a balanced ration of good quality fresh grass were fed to dairy cows, very little protein concentrate would be required for cows producing 10 kg. (22 lbs.) of milk or less. This was more than the cows were actually producing.
Taiwan has about 420,000 cattle and 140,000 goats. Feeding them better forage not only would improve production—whether of milk, meat, mohair or draft power—but would result in a saving of concentrates.
Forage also would have beneficial effects when plowed under in crop rotation, and the added manure from the cows would result in a marked increase in rice and other crop yields from semi-dryland soils. Erosion prevention is another advantage of grasslands.
The most favorable areas for grassland development are the Linko and Taoyuan tablelands, the northern foothills and Tatun mountains, and the east coast range. These areas have well distributed rainfall, equitable temperatures, and suitable soil. The land is generally accessible to transportation. Other moderately favorable areas include Chungli, Tatu and Pakua tablelands, northwestern, southwestern and Hengchun foothills.
Other Prospects
Forages also can be produced to advantage on some of the gravelly river bottom sand stony lands; slopes of terraces and paddy fields; the banks of irrigation ditches, reservoirs, railroads and roadsides; areas adjacent to airport runways and miscellaneous lands on military reservations; and graveyards. The grasslands program is just beginning and will grow rapidly in the years just ahead.
Land consolidation started in 1959 and1960 demonstration programs on 1,300 hectares (3,211 acres) of farmlands in 11 areas. As of June, 1961, consolidation field work had been completed on 1,350 hectares (3,335 acres) in five areas involving 2,200 farm families. These areas originally were divided into 123,000 plots. After rearrangement, plots were reduced to 7,464.
A network of farm roads was constructed. Percentage of plots connected with farm roads rose from 34 to 90 per cent.
A total of 118,600 meters (389,008 ft.) of irrigation and drainage ditches was constructed. The percentage of directly irrigated plots was increased from 29 to 34 per cent and the percentage of plots with direct drain age was increased from 19 to 94 per cent.
Provincial Example
The provincial government selected Lungching in Taichung county—with 19,000 people in 10 villages—to show what consolidation can do. Lungching has many natural handicaps. Backed up against high hills in the east, it bears the brunt of vigorous, sand-carrying winds. Its 1,300-hectares (3,211 acres) of farmland are often afflicted with drought. In summer floods are common.
Tidelands can be used for fish ponds and paddy rice. (File photo)
The 21,180 fragments of land owned by some 2,000 families have been pulled together into 5,714 plots. Most farmers have their land in one piece, accessible by road and provided with irrigation water.
When the program began, farmers were unhappy. Complaints were lodged with the land office against the encroachments of new drainage ditches or widened irrigation canals. Farmers said they had been allotted land less productive than their plots or not so well situated. Even so, only 100 of the 2,000 families protested.
Land officials pointed out that even when land area was reduced, size of the planting area was increased. Before consolidation, 51 hectares (125 acres) were wasted on paths and banks. These traditional field boundaries, haphazardly established over the centuries through inheritance and sales, Were straightened and reduced to 14 hectares (34 acres). Another 99.7 hectares (246 acres) was gained from railways, graveyards, fishponds, dryland and wasteland.
Doubters and complainers also were won over by improved typhoon drainage, large rectangular fields promoting. close planting and higher yields, improved accessibility, a lower water level permitting the inter-planting of wheat, sweet potatoes, rape seed, and legumes, and opportunities for mechanized farming.
Rich harvest of rice from Yunlin tidelands. (File photo)
Farmers Hsu Cho-shan told his friends that he did not mind the 0.084 hectares (0.207 acres) slashed off his 0.98-hectare (2.42 acres) farm. "My land was formerly much too long in one direction," he said, 'Now it is better shaped, so that it can be managed more easily."
Lin Tan used to spend 30 minutes walking from one of his plots to another. The three plots, are now consolidated. The total area is a tenth of a hectare less, but yield will be increased because of improved irrigation.
Land consolidation has increased per hectare yield by more than 30 per cent. The provincial government estimates the 300,000-hectare consolidation project will add 86,000 metric tons of rice production yearly.
Irrigation Projects
Five irrigation projects have been announced to boost rice production by 400,000 metric tons in the next 10 years.
These projects are (1) underground water development, (2) the Shihmen Dam water channel, (3) expansion of the Chianan Canal, (4) Paiho Water Reservoir construction, and (6) expansion of rotational irrigation.
Underground water development, which calls for the digging of 1,600 deep wells, is expected to boost rice production by 190,000 metric tons a year.
After completion of the irrigation system at Shihmen, where a gigantic multi-purpose dam is under construction, rice production in the Taoyuan area will be increased by 69,000 metric tons. The other three projects will add 63,000 metric tons of rice annually.
Taiwan's rice production reached a record 2,102,874 metric tons in 1962. With the six projects completed, production is expected to exceed 2,500,000 metric tons, enough to feed the island's increasing population during the next 10 years. Considering that the 1971 population will be 15,290,000, that is no mean achievement.