Taiwan smart agriculture & precision farming

Taiwan’s low birth rate and aging population have led to a significant labor shortage on Taiwan’s farms. To address this issue, Taiwan has rolled out policies to promote smart agriculture and precision farming. Initiatives include subsidies for farmers who are willing to adopt or develop smart agricultural technology, products, or services. Taiwan presents opportunities for qualified American agricultural companies involved in IoT, robotics, drones, and AI. It is important to note that Taiwan has many strong domestic agricultural equipment manufacturers. Partnering with local agents or other Taiwan partners is advisable.

The production value for Taiwan’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry industries was approximately US$18.6 billion, this compares to US$867.3 billion in China, and US$23.6 billion in South Korea. Taiwan has 1.9 million acres of arable land, this is about the same as Norway.

As the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry industries account for less than 2% of Taiwan’s GDP, Taiwan’s agricultural machinery market is relatively small. However, Taiwan does have some domestic manufacturing of agricultural equipment, and the bulk of these firms are primarily export oriented. Exported items include sprayers, lawn mowers, harvesters, and dryers which are mostly small-scale agricultural machinery and post-harvest processing equipment.

By contrast, for large and complex agricultural machinery, Taiwan still relies heavily on imports from the United States, Germany and Japan. In 2019, Taiwan imported 1,359 tractors, combine harvesters, and rice transplanters. It should be noted that many top global brands have already entered the Taiwan market and have long-standing relationships with end-users. For new-to-market U.S. firms to succeed in exporting large and complex agricultural machinery to Taiwan, they will need to demonstrate a track record of international success and cost effectiveness compared to existing in-market competitors.

If you have further questions, please email Office.Taipei@trade.gov, or contact your local U.S. Commercial Service office.