加入WTO 之後，台灣開放稻米進口，這對缺乏競爭力的台灣稻米產業而言，是一沉重的打擊。為了使稻米供需平衡，並且逐年調降農業補貼，政府自2001 年起實施休耕政策，鼓勵稻農休耕，改種綠肥、景觀或能源作物，或採輪作。休耕政策實行至今，國內研究大多集中於經濟面向探討或政策檢討，很少探究休耕對農民及其所處鄉村社區有何影響。本研究試圖就此議題加以探討，對休耕衍生的農地利用、農業轉型、鄉村建設等課題深入研究。除了關切直接承受休耕政策後果的農民與農村，也希望對休耕政策提供實證研究資料，為全球化下的台灣農業之未來有所建言。 After becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Taiwan has to open its market for rice import. This has been a devastating blow to the highly protective rice industry of the island country. To balance the rice production and supply as well as reduce agricultural subsidy, the Taiwanese government has encouraged rice farmers to put rice fields into fallow operation, grow other plants, or rotate crops. Since this temporary suspending rice production policy, most research has focused on its economic efficiency, yet ignored the impacts of this policy on rice farmers and their rural communities. This research will aim to address this issue as well as explore related issues such as farmland use, agricultural transformation, and rural development. The purposes of this research are to provide empirical evidence in discussing the Taiwanese rice production policy, and to offer some insights for the future development of Taiwanese agriculture under globalization.
