Land Consolidation Engineering Bureau, Ministry of the Interior, R.O.CLand Consolidation Engineering Bureau, Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C

Due to the large area of farmland rezoning in the early stage, and the limited funds for the renewal and improvement plan, the farmland rezoning must be conducted in a staged manner across different areas. Take the Early Farmland Consolidation Area - Agricultural Waterway Renewal and Improvement Project for Beigang (IV) in Yunlin County as an example. Beigang is the name of the farmland consolidation area, and "IV" represents the 4th phase of the renewal and improvement project in the early agricultural land rezoning area of Beigang. The 1st to 3rd phases have been completed in 1988, 1999, and 2004 respectively.

In the agricultural land rezoning area completed before 1971, if the original agricultural road pavement width is less than 4 meters, it should be widened to 4 meters. A concrete U-shaped trench is set up for the supply / drainage waterways parallel to the agricultural roads, and the gravel base materials are added to the road surface to meet the needs of the scale of modern agricultural operations.

For the Early Farmland Consolidation Area - Agricultural Waterway Renewal and Improvement Project, during the early planning stage, the above-ground objects on both sides of the agricultural road that would be used (including excavated) for improvement are investigated and counted. If the above-ground objects are located on the private lands, relevant compensation fees may be considered. If the above-ground objects are located on the public lands, no compensation fee will be considered.

In the early agricultural waterway renewal and improvement project for the farmland rezoning area, hydrological data such as rainfall over the years were first collected to analyze the maximum daily rainfall that occurred once every 10 years, and investigated the existing drainage system in the improvement area. And the statistical data about the drainage area and drainage volume were collected to calculate the flow per unit catchment area. Then, the Manning formula was used to perform hydraulic calculations and determine the size of the new drainage ditch section and water level height (d). The design height of the gutter wall should be 1 / 3d or 20 cm higher than the water level.

Regarding the planting in the Farm Roads and Waterways Upgrade and Improvement District in the Early Consolidated Areas, generally planting on one side is adopted for agricultural roads exceeding 5 meters in their widths, while planting on both sides is adopted or agricultural roads exceeding 6 meters in their widths.

According to the Plan of the Executive Yuan to Revitalize the economy by Expanding Investment in Public Construction and the Implementation Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction amended on 2009/12/15, at least 10% of the funds for this renewal and improvement project should be used for green energy or green construction methods. The cost of the green construction methods must account for 10% of the total project cost as no green energy is used in this project. The green construction methods used in this project include: planting on the side of the agricultural road (greening), construction of water seepage facilities at the bottom of the canal (water conservation), water supply ditch including water stops (water retention), laying the gravel aggregates without AC (waste reduction), and so on.

The budget of this project was drawn up by the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan. Project implementation, management and assessments would be implemented by the central district office of the Department of Land Administration (DLA). According to the proposed project procedure, local governments must first carry out preliminary prospecting. The central district office of the DLA shall then implement land re-assessments, followed by approval from the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan.

Rural road and water channel improvement projects for early farmland readjustment areas by local governments in the earlier rural consolidation zones shall first be approved by the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan. Preliminary planning and engineering designs shall be carried out by local governments with the assistance of the LCEB. Management and assessments shall be carried out by the Department of Land Administration (DLA) of the Ministry of the Interior.

The supervision work may be carried out by local governments or delegated to external organizations. If the local government chooses to delegate the LCEB in supervising the project, the LCEB shall initiate negotiations after evaluating available human resources. Supervision shall be implemented after reaching an agreement from both parties and signing of relevant contracts.

These projects target plots that have already underwent farmland readjustment before the 1970s. Any roads within these plots less than 4 meters wide would be widened to 4 meters. Irrigation and drainage channels that run parallel along the rural roads would be converted to a U-shaped concrete lined ditch. Roads would also be improved to gravel roads in order to satisfy the requirements for modern agricultural operations.