Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History pp 73–91Cite as

Two Paths Toward Raising Quality: Fertilizer Use in Rice and Sugarcane Cultivation in Colonial Taiwan (1895–1945)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 423 Accesses

Part of the book series: Studies in Economic History ((SEH))

Abstract

This chapter explores how farmers could purchase both “superior” and “optimal” fertilizer, focusing on rice and sugarcane cultivation in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule. The Government of Taiwan strongly promoted fertilizer-intensive agriculture and transactions of fertilizer rapidly expanded. However, because fertilizer is a product with a high degree of information asymmetry, farmers had to bear the costs for judging the quality of fertilizers and keeping up with the advancement of fertilizers. In order to deal with these problems, farmers chose institutional solutions by trading with agricultural associations in rice cultivation and sugar companies in sugarcane cultivation. However, as fertilizer transactions increased, the means of solving information asymmetry followed different paths for the two crops. In the case of rice cultivation, because the characteristics of the fertilizer did not change, maintaining institutional solutions became irrational, resulting in the rise of market-based solutions . In sugarcane cultivation, because the fertilizer advanced rapidly, keeping institutional solutions remained rational. Given the differences in production parameters, both rice farmers and sugarcane farmers made rational choices resulting in a choice of institutional solutions in the sugarcane case, and market-based solutions in the rice case.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bosma, Ulbe, Juan A. Giusti-Cordero, and Knight G. Rodger (eds.). 2007. Sugarlandia revisited: Sugar and colonialism in Asia and the Americas, 1800–1940. New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chōsen Sōtokufu (Government of Chosen). 1940. Chōsen no hiryō (Fertilizer in Chosen). Seoul: Chōsen Sōtokufu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chūbu Taiwan Tōgyō Kondankai (Central Taiwan Sugar Industry Meeting). 1933. Taichūshūka no tōgyō narabini hiryō shōhidaka (Sugar industry and the amount of fertilizer consumption in Taizhong). Taizhong: Chūbu Taiwan Tōgyō Kondankai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daizu Kōgyō Kenkyūkai (the society of bean industry). 1936. Konpō mamekasu hinshitsu chōsa hōkoku (Report on a survey of the quality of “mixed storage” bean cake). Dalian: Daizu Kōgyō Kenkyūkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, Susan. 1997. Everyday things in premodern Japan. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayami, Yujirō and Vernon Ruttan. 1971. Agricultural development: An international perspective. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirai, Kensuke. 2015. Kansho saku ni okeru sehi no kōdoka to shokusan seisaku (The “sophistication of fertilizing” in sugar cane cultivation and development policy). In Shokuminchi Taiwan no keizaikiban to sangyō (Economic infrastructures and industries in colonial Taiwan), ed. Takenori Sunaga, 173–200. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyōronsha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirai, Kensuke. 2016. Peasants’ dilemma: Finance and fraud problems in purchasing fertilizer in Taiwan (1910–1930). In Economic activities under the Japanese colonial empire, ed. Minoru Sawai, 115–136. Tokyo, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht and London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ka, Chih-ming. 1995. Japanese colonialism in Taiwan: Land tenure, development, and dependency, 1895–1945. Boulder and Colo: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kakei, Tateshirō. 1989. Tsuchi to hito to satō no isshō (A life of Kakei Tateshirō). Saitama: Sakitama Shuppankai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Li-yang. 2004. Rizhishiqi Taizhong diqu de nonghui yu mizuo (Agricultural associations and rice cultivation in the Taizhong area during Japanese rule). Taibei: Daoxiang Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maruta, Jitarō.1940. Taiwan Seitō Kabushiki Kaisha sōgyō tōji no tsuioku (A memory on my Taiwan Sugar K.K. days). Taibei: Taiwan Seitō Kabushiki Kaisha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki Kaisha (South Manchuria Railway Company). 1925. Kongō hokan (Mixed storage). Dalian: Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki Kaisha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori, Shūhei. 1934. Taiwan sangyō kumiai sōko keiei (Management of Taiwan’s industrial union’s warehouse). Taibei: Taiwan Sangyō Kumiai Kyōkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, Ramon H. and Saburō Yamada. 1984. Agricultural development in the empire. In The Japanese colonial empire, 1895–1945, ed. Ramon H. Myers, and Mark R. Peattie, 420–452. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nōrinshō (Department of Agriculture and Commerce). 1940. Hiryō Yōran (Statistics of fertilizer in Taiwan). Tokyo: Nōrinshō.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ōmameuda, Minoru. 1993. Kindai Nihon no shokuryō seisaku (The food policy of modern Japan). Kyoto: Minerva Shobō.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rinji Taiwan Tōmukyoku (RTT) (Bureau of Sugar Industry in Taiwan). 1908. Taiwan tōgyō ippan (Taiwan sugar industry). Taibei: Rinji Taiwan Tōmukyoku.

    Google Scholar 

  • RTT.1910. Rinji Taiwan tōmukyoku dai 8 nenpō (Annual report of Bureau of Sugar Industry in Taiwan. Vol. 8). Taibei: Rinji Taiwan Tōmukyoku.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sankame, Ichirō. 1928. Taiwan no kome torihiki kaizen saku (Plans for improvement in Taiwan rice trading). Place of publication and publisher unknown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taichūchō Nōkai (TCN) (Taizhong Agricultural Association). 1915. Taichūchō nōkai hiryō kōbai kitei (Taizhong agricultural association regulations in fertilizer trading). Taizhong: Taichūchō Nōkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • TCN. 1917. Kaihō (Agricultural association reports), vol. 7. Taizhong: Taichūchō Nōkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taichūshū Nōkai (TSN) (Taizhong Agricultural Association). 1921. Kaihō (Agricultural association reports). vol. 12. Taizhong: Taichūshū Nōkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • TSN. 1923–1932. Kaihō (Agricultural association reports). Taizhong: Taichūshū Nōkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taiwan Ginkō (TG) (Bank of Taiwan). 1911. Chūbu sanmai no torihiki oyobi kinyū no enkaku (The history of rice cultivation and finance in the central of Taiwan). Taibei: Taiwan Ginkō.

    Google Scholar 

  • TG. 1920. Taiwan ni okeru hiryō no genjō narabini shōrai (The present and future of fertilizer in Taiwan). Taibei: Taiwan Ginkō.

    Google Scholar 

  • TG. 1934. Hiryō ni kansuru chōsabutsu narabini shiryō (Documents and surveys concerning fertilizers). Taibei: Taiwan Ginkō.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taiwan Nōyūkai (TNK). 1923. Taiwan nōjihō (Taiwan farm journal), vol. 203. Tabiei: Taiwan Nōyūkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • TNK. 1928. Taiwan nōjihō (Taiwan farm journal), vol. 169. Tabiei: Taiwan Nōyūkai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taiwan Sōtokufu (TS) (Government of Taiwan). 1905–1935. Taiwan sōtokufu tōkeisho (Statistics of Taiwan). Taibei: Taiwan Sōtokufu.

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1914a. Taiwan sōtokufu dai 17 tōkeisho (Statistics of Taiwan), vol. 17.

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1914b. Seitō gaisha nōji shunin kaigi tōshin (the conference of the agricultural sector of sugar companies).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1918. Dai 3 kai seitōgaisha nōji shunin kaigi tōshin (the 3rd conference of the agricultural sector of sugar companies).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1922. Taiwan tōgyō tōkei (Statistics of sugar industry in Taiwan).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1926. Taiwan mai gaisetsu (Overview of Taiwan’s rice).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1927. Taiwan tōgyō gaikan (Overview of sugar industry in Taiwan).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1929. Dai 17 Taiwan tōgyō tōkei (17th statistics of sugar industry in Taiwan).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1933. Taiwan Nōkai Yōran (Summary of the Agricultural associations in Taiwan).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1933–1943. Taiwan hiryō yōran (Statistics of fertilizer in Taiwan).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1935. Nōgyō kihon chōsa dai 33 nōgyō kinyū chōsa (Basic agriculture survey report no. 33; agriculture finance survey).

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1937. Taiwan hiryō yōran (Statistics of fertilizer in Taiwan). Taibei: Taiwan Sōtokufu.

    Google Scholar 

  • TS. 1943. Taiwan hiryō yōran (Statistics of fertilizer in Taiwan). Taibei: Taiwan Sōtokufu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tōgyō Kenkyūkai (the Sugar Society). 1928. Tōgyō (Sugar Industry), vol. 169. Taibei: Tōgyō Kenkyūkai.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada, Kobe, Hyogo, 658-8501, Japan

    Kensuke Hirai

Authors
  1. Kensuke Hirai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kensuke Hirai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuko Furuta

  2. Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

    Linda Grove

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hirai, K. (2017). Two Paths Toward Raising Quality: Fertilizer Use in Rice and Sugarcane Cultivation in Colonial Taiwan (1895–1945). In: Furuta, K., Grove, L. (eds) Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3752-8_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation