Comparative analysis of temporal changes of multifunctionality benefit of two major rice paddy plains in Taiwan
Journal
Paddy and Water Environment
Journal Volume
8
Journal Issue
2
Pages
199-205
Date Issued
2010
Author(s)
Abstract
Recently, free trade of farm land, changes of agricultural policy and global climate changes have resulted a significant reduction of rice planting area and the multifunctionality values of paddy field in Taiwan. This study aims to evaluate the temporal changes of multifunctionality benefit of two major rice paddy plains in Taiwan. The main agricultural production regions of the Chou-Shui river alluvial fan and Ping-Tung plain are selected for the comparative study. The replacement method is adopted to quantify the multifunctionality of the paddy field. The results show that percentage of cultivated paddy to the total paddy gradually decreases from 92 to 80% and the external value remains from 572,000 to 668,000 NT$/ha in the Chou-Shui river alluvial fan. Whereas, the percentage of area of cultivated paddy to the total paddy markedly decreases from 37 to 23% from 1999 to 2006 and resulting the external values of paddy only ranges from 156,000 to 258,000 NT$/ha in the Ping-Tung plain. To maintain the sustainable agriculture in the paddy field, government needs to formulate incentive policy to conserve the paddy farming, promote, and transmit the general understanding of the environmental and living-hood multifunctionality values to the people. © Springer-Verlag 2010.
Subjects
Chou-Shui river alluvial fan; Multifunctionality; Paddy field; Ping-Tung plain
Other Subjects
agricultural policy; agricultural production; alluvial fan; alternative agriculture; climate change; comparative study; paddy field; spatiotemporal analysis; trade-environment relations; Choushui River; Pingtung Plain; Taiwan
Type
journal article