Since the R.O.C. began to experience rapid economic growth, agriculture, with its innate limitations under conditions of an open economy, has gradually manifested severe problems. Currently R.O.C. agriculture has major weaknesses. First, natural agricultural production cannot compete with mechanized industrial production, leading to an outmigration of labor, which affects the ability of agriculture to continue to develop; Second, small farm operations lack economy of scale, leading to a low return on resources, which in turn influences the raising of real incomes of farmers. Further, with recent trade liberalization has come a large influx of foreign agriculture products and intense market competition. Because R.O.C. farms are small-scale and costs are high, it is difficult to compete with countries where agriculture operations are on a large scale; moreover, labor costs are high in the R.O.C. and it is not easy to compete with low labor cost systems. Even more damaging has been the recent rapid rise of the NT dollar, which increases the gap between domestic and imported prices. It is for these reasons that farmers have taken to street action in the hope of gaining attention from all sectors of the country to work together to solve the problems of agriculture.

In order to be responsive to public opinion, to solve the current agriculture problems, and to establish the direction and principles for the future of agriculture, the government held a three-day conference (from November 14 to the 16th, 1988)--the Second National Conference on Agriculture. Its purpose was to facilitate communication between all levels of agriculture to set principles for agriculture development and its production and sales structure.

The conference was divided into eight topics with 39 subtopics. Included in the eight topics were adjustment of the agriculture administrative system and strengthening of farmers' organizations, strengthening farm production and sales regulations, putting the agriculture transport and sales system in good order, strengthening the control of trade in agriculture products with appropriate protection of agriculture, easing taxes on farmers and improving the agriculture financial system, adjustment of the planned use of land resources and raising the effectiveness of farm management, effective usage of fishery resources and emphasizing fishery development, preventing pollution and maintenance of the agriculture environment, speeding up of rural construction and moving forward on social benefits for the agriculture population. Those invited included farmers, scholars and specialists, practitioners in related fields, and government officials-a total of 301 persons.

The main focus of the conference was to strengthen the powers of the central agricultural bureaucracies and to improve agriculture administration as the woof, with the eight main topics serving as the warp, with the construction of an agricultural planning structure and the improvement of social benefits for farmers and their families as the final objective. The 39 subtopics tended to be technicaloriented but weak in discussions on policy.

The conference summarized its discussions in 11 conclusions, aimed at an ideal agricultural system including: a structure for agricultural policy with comprehensive powers, strong and capable farmers' organizations, autonomous price regulation, stable agriculture profits, moderate trade protection, reasonable prices for inputs, continuous use of agriculture resources, a low-pollution environment, stable growth in agriculture, hygienic and safe agricultural products, and safe and healthy rural villages. This beautiful image still requires concrete policies for implementation.

Economic internationalization is an inevitable step for a modernized country. With increasing interdependence, policies in one country can affect the world economy, especially if that country is a major trading state. Agricultural problems are closely tied to trade issues, especially since the U.S. has sought to solve domestic agricultural problems with exports, a serious blow to agriculture in the R.O.C., Japan, and Korea.

The R.O.C. must adjust its agricultural development appropriately, but this is not easy in the face of international economic instability. Agricultural trade liberalization could lead to falling domestic prices, stagnation in growth, and a distortion in use of resources. Unfortunately, the conference did not address this problem in concrete terms.

The greatest trade pressure comes from the U.S. which, because of the R.O.C.'s enormous trade surplus with it, has reason to seek the opening of markets and removal of obstacles to trade in the R.O.C. R.O.C. trade policy has long been subject to manipulation by commercial and industrial interest groups, who desire large imports of U.S. agricultural goods to stave off the pressure. In the face of liberalization, agriculture has already taken a beating. Unless there is an appropriate adjustment in the structure of domestic agriculture or continued support from a powerful political grouping, effective agricultural development will be impossible.

Currently the agricultural sector faces three major problems. (1) The problem of the continued existence of small-scale, low-income agricultural households; (2) The problem of low prices and income for commercialized agriculture under competition from abroad; and (3) The problem of future development and policy direction in an economically dynamic society. The realization of the conference's "beautiful vision" for agriculture must start with these three questions.

Many of the problems caused by an economically dynamic society are closely linked to the problem of scale. The problem of scale today is manifested in the lack of technical efficiency and the lack of price efficiency so that technical adoption and price are both difficult in the face of dynamic market change, resulting in low rural incomes. Specialists commonly agree that the solution lies in combining small farms into large ones to achieve economies of scale and in promotion of planned production and sales, to economically utilize agricultural resources. Moreover, modernized construction should be strengthened in the rural areas to build villages with the potential to meet the needs of the time. This will solve problems of the farming population and the farming villages simultaneously.