To encourage farmers to produce finest paddy and in turn elevate the competitiveness of Taiwanese rice, Agriculture and Food Agency, COA started piloting the dual-track system that combines rice direct payment and price guarantee purchase in six townships from the 2nd crop of 2016, which later saw two expansions in the 1st and 2nd crop of 2017. The new system added an option of direct payment while keeping the original price guarantee purchase. In comparison, the two-for-one selection offers farmers better protection and therefore has drawn a favorable participation.
Successfully directing farmers to produce high-quality rice in 1st crop of 2017
Of 20 trial zones for the 1st crop of 2017, where the reported paddy production area totaled 17,433 hectares, 11,027 were filed for direct payment. By the end of that period, the direct payment for 6,802 hectares had been claimed, with a fulfillment rate of 39%. 1,352 hectares were cultivated by paddy cluster participants under a production contract, and 737 hectares were newly included into that category, a 120% increase compared to 615 hectares before the launch of direct payment. The result aligned perfectly with the intent of encouraging farmers to take part in paddy production clusters and to produce the rice that meets market demands.
The participation rate of direct payment exceeded 60% in the 2nd crop
Of 23,028 hectares in 50 trial zones for the 2nd crop of 2017, 15,325 hectares, 67% of the area, had been applied for direct payment. Among them 1,513 hectares were registered as contractual paddy cluster producers, showing that farmers are not just receptive to direct payment but are also willing to take part in contractual production to produce high-quality crops.
Successful trial warrants a full roll-out in 2018
The AFA indicates that after three seasons of pilot runs and subsequent reviews, the direct payment system has shown to increase the quality of domestic rice and benefit the paddy industry in making the transformation. Thus a plan to fully implement the dual-track system has been drawn, where applying farmers can collect 13,500 and 10,000 per hectare for 1st crop and 2nd crop, respectively. Those participating in contractual production clusters receive an additional payment of 1,500 per hectare as an incentive for producing crops of higher quality. Nevertheless, famers may still resort to government procurement if they choose so, as all of the present benefit will remain.
