Comparative analysis of temporal changes of multifunctionality benefit of two major rice paddy plains in Taiwan

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.     

Prospects for multifunctionality of paddy rice cultivation in Japan and other countries in monsoon Asia

This paper presents a study carried out by a group of Japanese researchers to critically review past researches and discussions on the multifunctionality of paddy rice cultivation, with the aim of describing the current status of the subject and providing options and potentials for future research and practices. The review was of over 200 documented articles on the major external functions. The results of this study revealed that the importance of multifunctionality is well perceived in Japan. The methodologies to measure and estimate the magnitude have been established for most functions. However, there is a need for more cases, to integrate all the functions at the local or regional scale to represent site-specific characteristics of multifunctionality. There is also a need to develop management practices to sustain and enhance the positive multifunctionality of paddy rice cultivation while minimizing negative effects to the environment, which may be brought into the agricultural policies. Except for Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, there are slightly different notions on multifunctionality in other monsoon Asia countries, but the gap in this notion is reducing following recent international activities.     

Environmental multifunctionality of Indonesian agriculture

Industrial and urban developments in Indonesia focus on the economic merits, but neglect agricultural services that, when disappear, will destabilize the environmental and livelihood systems. A series of 5-year study has evaluated various aspects of multifunctionality and implications of paddy field conversion on the disappearance of multifunctionality. Soil loss from a series of 18 terraced paddy fields in central Java is negligible. Only a few terraces located along the streams directly caused sedimentation. The functions of flood mitigation, water-resource conservation, erosion reduction, organic waste disposal, heat mitigation, and rural amenity of paddy fields in Citarum watershed in West Java were significant. The ‘replacement costs’ of such functions was about 51% ($92.67 million yr⁻¹) of the total price of rice of $181.34 million yr⁻¹ produced in the 156,000 ha paddy field. This amount could be considered as free services by the farmers to the society. However, because of society's negligence and unawareness, conversion has been accelerating while development of new paddy fields has been decelerating in the last few years. Low and fluctuating price of agricultural products, unavailability or non-affordability of agricultural supplies and inaccessibility to market are among the major disincentives faced by farmers. Because of appreciable multifunctionality they produce, farmers deserve various incentives for the sake of environmental sustainability and other services.     

稻田养鸭对水稻产量及效益的影响

为掌握稻田养鸭技术,有效提高水稻和养鸭的综合效益,特进行此试验。结果表明,稻田养鸭地由于不用化肥、农药,稻米质量明显提高,有一定增产效果,比对照平均增产10.6%,增加收入2 130元/hm2,具有显著的经济效益和社会效益。由于这项技术不用农药,减少了农药对生态环境的污染,对发展绿色农业以至于有机农业奠定了基础。     

Evaluation of agricultural ecosystem services in fallowing land based on farmers’ participation and model simulation

Fallowing with green fertilizer can benefit agricultural ecosystem services (AES). Farmers in Taiwan do not implement fallow practices and plant green fertilizer because the current subsidy level (46,000 NT$ per ha) is too low to manage fallowing. This paper defines the objective of government agriculture policy or the farmer’s objective as maximization of farm productivity, approximated to the value of social welfare and AES. Farms, which do not follow proper fallowing practices, often have poorly maintained fallow land or left farmland abandoned. This results in negative environmental consequences such as cutworm infestations in abandoned land, which in turn can affect crops in adjacent farmlands. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, it determines the proper fallowing subsidy based on the concept of payment for ecosystem services to entice more farmers to participate in fallowing. Second, it simulates the benefit of planting green manure in fallow land to the supply of AES based on the rate of farmers who are willing to participate in fallow land practices and essential parameters that can affect soil fertility change. The approach involves a series of interviews and a developed empirical model. The value of AES when the rate of farmer participation is 100% represents a 1.5% increase in AES (448,317,000 NT$) over the value at the current participation rate of 14%. This study further concludes that the appropriate fallowing subsidy has a large positive impact on AES and social welfare (e.g., benefit from food and biofuel supplies) and is seen as a basis of ecological governance for sustainable agro-ecosystems.     

Policy measures to promote mid-summer drainage in paddy fields for a reduction in methane gas emissions: the application of a dynamic,spatial computable general equilibrium model

Rice production is affected by climate change, while climate change is simultaneously accelerated by methane gas (CH₄) emissions from paddy fields. The rice sector must take suitable mitigation measures, such as prolonging mid-summer drainage (MSD) before the rice flowering period. To propose a mitigation policy, this study aims to demonstrate the environmental and economic effects of MSD in Japanese paddy fields by using a dynamic, spatial computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and crop model; the study also considers environmental subsidies with a carbon tax scheme to promote MSD measures. The results demonstrate that climate change under the 8.5 representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenario will reduce rice prices and rice farmers’ nominal income due to bumper harvests until the 2050s. Promoting MSD in paddy fields can prevent a decrease in farmers’ nominal income and effectively reduce CH₄ emissions if all farmers adopt this measure. However, some farmers can potentially increase their own yield by avoiding MSD under high rice prices, which would be maintained through other farmers’ participation. A strong motivation exists for some farmers to gain a “free ride,” and an environmental subsidy with a carbon tax can help motivate farmers to adopt MSD. Therefore, the policy mix of prolonging MSD and environmental subsidies can increase all farmers’ incomes by preventing “free rides” and decrease greenhouse gas emissions with a slight decrease in Japan’s GDP.

     

A conceptual framework for eco-friendly paddy farming in Taiwan,based on experimentation with System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methodology

This paper reviews the constraints and challenges of paddy farming in Taiwan. Based on those evidences, a set of eco-friendly rice farming practices raised by SRI principles are proposed from exploratory SRI trials conducted in Taiwan. The trials show that even with less exact leveling in the SRI field than is ideally provided, the average yield for SRI was higher than for CP; with an aerobic soil situation, the combination of biocontrol agent application and SRI management was seen to give better rice blast control; and the highest paddy yield was obtained from single-seedling transplants from potted nursery trays which protect the young seedlings’ roots from shock or twisting, compared with the planting of more numerous seedlings grown on flat nursery trays by a mechanical rice transplanter. In conclusion, a conceptual framework for eco-friendly paddy farming is formulated to encourage farmers to practice SRI principles. Among the participants in this collaboration, a co-operating group of SRI farmers is organized under investor sponsorship to guarantee the quality and safety of food, integrating an inspection service and food-source traceability from field to market with the production process. It is seen that in Taiwan, SRI principles can be adopted by local farmers without need for additional premiums through eco-friendly collaboration that can raise simultaneously the productivity of land, capital, and irrigation water. In addition, this collaboration can take advantage of increasing consumer demand for safe food with fewer chemicals and for supporting a greater level of biodiversity.     

一稻两鸭共作绿色种养技术

一稻两鸭共作绿色种养是一种高效的绿色种养技术,用统筹协调的方式把稻田资源进一步开发利用,在保证绿色稻米生产的同时,增加了水禽产品的收获量,提高了经济效益.为确保该项技术的应用效果,应遵循产地环境条件要求,掌握稻鸭品种选择、稻田及配套设施准备、水稻绿色栽培和鸭的绿色饲养技术等要点.     

绿色水稻“鱼除草”试验简报

稻田养鱼是集高产、高效及生态安全为一体的综合配套技术,其在虎林镇农业中心经过多年试验示范,现已取得显著效果。通过试验,掌握了包括整田、消毒及安全防范等一系列相关技术,解决了AA级纯天然绿色水稻杂草防除问题,使鱼、稻实现双增收,为农业增效、农民增收提供了科学依据和技术支撑。     

The methods to consolidate scattered tenanted lots into large rice paddy lots by the land consolidation projects in Japan

Today in Japan, agricultural productivity of rice cropping farmers is low. In order to get sufficient agricultural productivity, Japanese government is encouraging enlarging core farmers' farm sizes to 10–20 ha by borrowing farm lots from retiring farmers of small farms and carrying out the land consolidation projects to construct large rice paddy lots. In order to realize large rice paddy lots of more than several hectares, it is necessary to consolidate small scattered leased farm lots of core tenant farmers, but it is supposed to be very difficult. In order to clarify how to consolidate those leased lots into large rice paddy lots, I investigated five land consolidation project areas in which large rice paddy lots of more than several hectares were constructed for core tenant farmers. The result shows that (1) large rice paddy lots for core tenant farmers were settled in relatively inferior areas of the project areas, for instance, far from the land owners' residence area. (2) Basically land lenders do not accept their substitute lots settled into large rice paddy lots in such inferior areas, (3) but some land lenders who were eager to lend their farmland to core farmers accepted their substitute lots in such inferior areas. (4) Even in cases that tenant farmers could not consolidate substitute lots of their tenant land into large rice paddy lots, they could consolidate their cultivating lots by adjusting user rights, that is, exchange of user rights of lots between land lenders whose substitute lots were located outside of a large rice paddy lot area and owner farmers whose substitute lots were located in the area. (5) Owner farmers accepted this adjustment on their farmland as they could cultivate superior lots, consolidate their scattered cultivating lots into one place and so on.     

黑斑蛙养殖模式对稻田土壤肥力、土壤酶活性的影响及其经济效益

对两种黑斑蛙养殖模式即黑斑蛙精养和稻蛙共生进行田间对比试验,旨在比较分析两种模式下的稻田土壤肥力、生物酶活性变化特征,并与水稻单作进行经济效益比较.试验结果表明,与黑斑蛙精养田相比,进行稻—蛙共生的稻田土壤全磷、全钾、碱解氮、速效钾均有所增加,增幅分别为87.5%、28.4%、10.0%、120.7%,而全氮、有效磷、有机质却低于精养田(p<0.05),分别减少了41.6%、66.7%、41.3%;但两种模式的C/N无明显差异.在土壤生物酶活方面,精养田土壤中的中性磷酸酶、脱氢酶和脲酶均明显高于稻蛙田(p<0.05),分别提高43.4%、65.9%、62.6%.水稻单作模式一般利润为1650元/公顷左右,而两种黑斑蛙养殖模式的经济效益显著高于水稻单作,其利润分别为297750、119250元/公顷,三者的产投比分别为1.99、1.60、1.18.从经济效益看,精养模式明显高于稻蛙共生模式,但从养殖管理和风险管控而言,稻蛙共生模式操作更为稳当,且经济效益较水稻单作仍较为可观,可在确保粮食安全前提下,有效提高农民生产积极性,实现保产增收、提质增效.     

Environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields in Taiwan: an application of contingent valuation method

This paper aims to evaluate the social value of the environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields in Taiwan; through individual consumers’ direct expressions of their perceived benefit and to provide the empirical data thus collected for the reference of the decision makers in the government. This study use contingent valuation method (CVM) to evaluates the value of environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields from the purposefully selected pool of samples in Taiwan. The result shows if judged by the threat that free trade poses to the retention of arable land, most respondents give a value of 114 NT/household/month to 115 NT/household/month for 1% reduction of arable land to be restored to the existing level; and168 NT/household/month to 181 NT/household/month for a reduction rate of 4%. There are 7,394,758 households in Taiwan. The aggregating result is 10,116,028,944 NT/year to 10,204,766,040 NT/year for 1% reduction of arable land to be restored to the existing level; and 14,907,832,128 NT/year to 16,061,414,376 NT/year for a reduction rate of 4%.

稻螺生态种养模式效益分析及其发展前景

稻螺生态种养模式是充分利用稻田空间、时间、生态环境等资源,在进行水稻种植的同时生态养殖田螺的模式,拓展了种植业与养殖业的发展空间,提高了稻田物质与能量的利用率与产出效益.以浏阳市利敏农业开发有限公司为例,介绍了稻螺生态种养模式的生态系统结构和构建原理,以及该模式的技术流程,分析了该模式的经济、生态、社会等效益,探讨了其发展前景.     

泰州市稻田综合种养产业发展分析及建议

系统阐述了泰州市稻田综合种养产业的发展现状,包括分布区域、经营主体、种养模式等,统计了不同种养模式的应用面积、产量及收益,对稻田综合种养及常规稻麦种植两种模式下的经济效益进行了对比。结果表明,稻田综合种养模式能显著提高土地利用率,促进当地农业增效和农民增收。通过对稻田综合种养模式推广应用过程中的比较优势以及存在问题进行系统分析,提出了针对性的解决措施和建议。     

“稻—鳖—鱼”复合种养模式关键技术

"稻—鳖—鱼"复合种养模式具备良好的经济、社会、生态效益,是一种环境友好型的农业模式,能提高农民收入,有效降低农业面源污染,为人们提供绿色安全的食品.从稻田基础建设、"稻—鳖—鱼"复合种养技术、水稻种植技术等方面介绍"稻—鳖—鱼"复合种养技术要点,以供"稻—鳖—鱼"复合种养模式的推广.     

长期稻-稻-绿肥轮作对水稻产量的影响

为探讨湘南红壤稻田多熟制的增产潜力,不断提高经济效益和土壤肥力,促进农业可持续发展,从1982年开始,对红壤稻田布置了紫云英(T1)、油菜(T2)、黑麦草(T3)绿肥翻压还田对水稻产量及生长发育影响的长期轮作制度定位试验。27年的研究结果表明:1)与冬闲(CK)处理相比,种植绿肥处理能促进水稻增产,增产幅度依次为T1T2T3;2)与CK相比,绿肥处理下水稻年产量与CK处理间差异随年份增加而增大;T1处理与T2、T3处理间及T2处理与T3处理间差异也是如此。     

长江中下游稻区农户用种行为研究

基于浙江、江西、安徽、湖南四省342户农户水稻种植的微观数据,运用统计分析方法,研究影响长江中下游稻区农户用种行为的主要因素。结果显示,农户用种行为受水稻种植规模、农户年龄、从事水稻种植年份、信息获取难易程度和是否拥有农业保险等因素影响。提出相应对策建议：通过育种政策引导培育广适性品种,提升农业技术推广的深度和广度,通过补贴政策引导鼓励农户适度规模经营,培育家庭农场等新型农业经营主体,扩大农业保险以提升稻农抗风险能力。     

Determination of the magnitudes and values for groundwater recharge from Taiwan's paddy field

Flooded paddy fields have many functions, including not only rice production, and ecological and environmental conservation. This work estimates the extent of paddy field infiltration in Taiwan by adopting a one-dimensional Darcy-based soil/water balance model SAWAH (Simulation Algorithm for Water Flow in Aquatic Habitats). A 10 cm thick plow sole layer with a hydraulic conductivity of 0.03 cm/day, coupled with the soil texture and irrigation data obtained from 15 irrigation associations, is used to estimate the volumetric amount of annual infiltration in Taiwan. Simulation results from SAWAH indicate that the plow sole layer controls the movement of infiltrated water, with a rate about 1.8 billion cubic meters annually. The estimated infiltration rate of 1.8 billion m³/yr comprises more than 40% of the annual infiltration recharge to ground water in Taiwan. Additionally, the amount of infiltration recharge to groundwater is equivalent to 20 billion Taiwan dollars NT$ (or 0.65 billion US$) while the yearly rice crop production is 35 billion NT$ (or 1.13 billion US$). It is evident that the infiltration from rice paddy is of great importance to the economy, environment, and water resources conservation in Taiwan.     

Experimental study on soil erosion characteristics in flooded terraced paddy fields

This experimental study assesses the effects of event rainfall on soil erosion characteristics in terraced rice paddy fields. A 0.75-ha terraced paddy field located in Northern Taiwan was used to investigate the soil erosion under the regular cultivation of rice during two crop seasons. The environmental changes were investigated in the neighboring areas in which terraced paddy fields have been converted to other land usages. The annual rate of soil erosion calculated from the observed rainfall runoff and suspended solid contained was 0.77 ton/ha, which is significantly less than the erosion rate associated with upland crop cultivation reported by other research conducted in Taiwan. Experimental results also showed that the terraced paddy field retained the highest percentages of clay, silt, and organic matter's content, as compared to those of other upland crops, indicating that the topsoil was less susceptible to rainfall erosion under flooded conditions of rice-cultivation. The results of this study show that the rice-planted terraced paddy offers the highest level of soil conservation. The function of soil and water conservation in terraced paddy fields could be further increased by effective maintenance of embankment and to raise the height of the bund. Poor management, abandoned cultivation, and converse to other upland crops of terraced paddy fields are regarded as major contributors to increased soil erosion in mountainous areas. The government in Taiwan should formulate effective measures and maintain sustainable rice cultivation in the terraced paddies.     

Optimal fallow area and location for multifunctional benefits of a paddy field during drought periods

Paddy fields not only serve to produce food but also have a variety of important ecological functions. Apart from the internal benefit (i.e., crop production), there are external benefits (i.e., reduction of greenhouse gases, oxygen generation, reduction of biological oxygen demand, flood mitigation, and other functions that are difficult to quantify). In the present study, the optimal fallow locations and areas were determined for evaluating the multifunctional benefits of paddy fields during drought periods, by using an optimization model for fallow fields under different exceedance probabilities of river inflows. For each time step, the appropriate probability distributions for river inflows to the Chi-Chi Weir (range 50–90 %) for generating system inflows were obtained. The optimization model for fallow fields was solved using Lingo. It was observed that the external benefits of paddy fields accounted for 76 % of total benefits, with the production benefit accounting for the remainder. The total benefits decreased as the exceedance probability of river discharges increased. Our findings indicate that fallow areas increase as irrigation areas shift downstream.