INCENTIVES FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN TAIWAN,R.O.C.: SOME COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE PERSPECTIVES

Since World War II, Taiwan has been very successful in promoting its agricultural development. Three strategies for agricultural development have been adopted over the past 30 years. In the early stage of its agricultural development; being faced with a food shortage problem, emphasized increase in food production in order to meet domestic needs. This policy target was realized with the aid of technical innovation which made it possible to increase yield. The means employed in this stage was technological efficiency. Secondly, after agricultural production was able to provide more than enough food for domestic needs, cash crops started to be grown along with the food crops in order to earn more income for the agricultural sector. These crops include mushrooms, asparagus, pineapples, etc. The means adopted in this period was price efficiency Finally, after technical innovation and cash crops growing, the developmental strategy was to search for foreign markets for agricultural exports, which in tum would earn foreign exchange for the economy. The means employed in this last stage was marketing efficiency (location efficiency).