Highways & Byways: Chihshang, Taitung’s rice town
The region is famous for its high-quality rice and extensive bike paths, guesthouses and easy access to the sea
By Steven Crook / Contributing reporter
Despite urban sprawl and industrialization, you needn’t travel far in Taiwan to see paddy fields. In 2019, rice was cultivated on 270,066 hectares of farmland almost 7.5 percent of the country’s land area, and only very slightly less than in 1903.
Per hectare yields now often exceed 7,000kg, perhaps six times greater than in the mid-18th century. Much of this progress can be credited to the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR, 中國農村復興聯合委員會), which channeled US technology and fertilizers into local agriculture after 1949.