As part of the overall "five plus two" innovative industries policy, in 2017 the government announced the New Agriculture Innovation Promotion Program in response to the challenges of global climate change, liberalization of international trade, shortage and aging of the agricultural labor force, structural inflexibility of the agriculture industry, as well as the public's growing awareness of food safety, consumer protection and environmental sustainability.
Since its inception, the program has yielded a string of positive results. To continue responding and adapting effectively to internal and external environmental changes, the government is building on this successful foundation to promote New Agriculture Innovation Promotion Program 2.0 (2021-2024). Focusing efforts on increasing benefits, building foundations, ensuring food safety and upgrading infrastructure, the new program seeks to safeguard farmer rights and interests, and protect the agricultural business environment in a manner that increases farmer incomes and provides consumers with safe agricultural products. These efforts will promote the sustainable development of the agricultural industry, agricultural workers and farming villages.
Focus of the program
■ Increase benefits: Improve farmers' health insurance, promote agricultural workers occupational hazards insurance, promote comprehensive crop insurance, and set up a farmer pension and savings system.
■ Build foundations: Protect and manage agricultural land resources, enhance policies for rice production, train new agricultural workers, and resolve worker shortages in the industry.
■ Ensure food safety: Cease vaccination of pigs for foot-and-mouth disease, keep African swine fever out of Taiwan, expand organic farming and food traceability, instruct schools to use traceable and certified ingredients in student lunches, and require purchasers of pesticides to leave their contact information to better manage the flow of pesticides.
■ Upgrade infrastructure: Establish an agricultural products cold chain system, modernize and upgrade the hog farming industry, strengthen infrastructure for the fisheries industry, and promote smart agriculture.