%0 Journal Article %A Jia Chen %A Suqiong Wei %A Songlin Chen %T Spatial and Temporal Diffusion of Taiwanese Agricultural Technology: A Case Study in Zhangpu County, Fujian Province %D 2019 %R 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2019.06.011 %J SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA %P 957-966 %V 39 %N 6 %X

Based on the statistical data, field survey and interview data, this paper studies the spatio-temporal path, pattern and mechanism of Taiwan's planting technology diffusion in Zhangpu County of Fujian Province. By doing so, this article reveals the unique characteristics of Taiwanese agricultural technology in the Mainland China which provides the basis for promoting agricultural cooperation and technological exchanges across the Taiwan Straits. The main results show a typical “Stype” curve of temporal diffusion. The diffusion resistance is low and the demonstration effect is remarkable, so that the diffusion rate is fast and the cycle is short. In the spatial dimension, a diffusion pattern of multi-core, multi intensity, gradient diffusion system and diffusion field overlapped is found. Taiwan famers are the source of technological diffusion, but the diffusion intensity decays with distance. Local professional seedling cultivators serve as the local diffusion nodes who promote the technological diffusion to further regions. Furthermore, where the diffusion field overlapped shows higher diffusion intensity than other regions. The diffusion form shows both extended diffusion and rank diffusion way. Moreover, the results also show that the main motivation factors for the temporal and spatial diffusion pattern are agricultural factors input, government technical support and economic benefits. Technical support from agricultural departments gives assistance to the technological diffusion by diagnosing and treating the plant diseases and insect pests, although the Taiwan agricultural technology hasn’t been yet involved into the science technology extension system. As a labor and material intensive technology, the material and labor inputs promote the technological diffusion. Besides, the fluctuation of purchase prices deeply affects the technology adoptions of local farmers. The market competition and natural conditions restrict the spatial diffusion. The rising scale and planting areas of local dominant varieties, i.e. Longan and Litchi, will hinder the spread of Zizyphus muaritiana’s planting technology due to the technological maturity of local varieties. The regional climate and terrain obviously influence the technology diffusion, although the geographical proximity and economic benefit weaken the limited power of regional climate and terrain at the beginning of the study. The geographical distance and technical protection behavior of technical source are also found to affect the diffusion pattern. The key findings of the paper have important policy implications: Strengthening investment promotion to build a more diversified technology source, establishment of multiple communication channels, giving full play to the technical guidance and auxiliary role of the government as well as issuing more dynamic market and technology information will promote the diffusion of Taiwanese agricultural technology and enhance the Cross-Strait communication and cooperation in agriculture. But there are still some shortcomings: one is that the paper has not yet reveals the multi-scale diffusional pattern and rule of Taiwanese agricultural technology which may exhibit different results; the other is that the influences of geography proximity as well as the behavior and the social network embeddedness of technical subjects haven’t been studied. Future study may focus at the social network embeddedness of Taiwan farmers and reconstruction of local social network to explore the diffusion network embeds in the social network.

%U http://geoscien.neigae.ac.cn/EN/10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2019.06.011