| Summary: | 碩士 === 樹德科技大學 === 經營管理研究所 === 106 === Leisure agriculture is a business undertaking combining agriculture with recreation. As the demand for recreation and travel rises, the abundance of crops, resources of traditional farming culture, and the aesthetically pleasing farmsteads have all won approvals from touring visitors. Operating a leisure farm can help raise the level of agriculture, create job opportunities in rural areas, add value to agriculture, and with the push for promotional agricultural products, greatly enhance the overall profitability for farmers. However, after having leisure farms for many years, results are mixed, with a motley assortment of problems like an overly short harvest season, a lack of crop variety, etc. Consequently, practical experience or solutions to problems are needed to give those interested in starting a leisure farm a point of reference in their endeavors.
Dashu Leisure Farm is the most recently established of the five farms that Kaohsiung currently has (2013.12.31). Owing to its advantageous geographic location and the favorable natural environment, it’s become one of the liveliest farms today. Be it the level of participation of farming families, the profitability of businesses, the tourist count, or the popularity, Dashu Leisure Farm ranks right up there with the best whichever way you look at it. However, the farm is also faced with similar problems as others. Though there’s no worry of first rate farm produce coming from it, the farm lacks variety. Third tier concepts from the service industry and the lack of well thought out developmental planning are also areas where the farm falls short. For these reasons, this research was carried out with input from extensive analyses of literary references, in-depth interviews, and the author’s practical experience, for an overall evaluation of the farm’s past, present, and future problems. Such move is meant to help shape developmental strategies conductive to its future growth, and also serves as a reference to which the operations of other leisure farms can be compared.
The study pays particular attention to the nine most probable problems to occur in the operation and administration of such leisure farms. Through in-depth interviews with three delegates of different capacities (industry, government, education) and an evaluation from the perspective of practical experience in the field, plausible solutions to the problems were obtained after the analyses and organization of the findings. Finally, propositions of practical implementation are then given. An example solution to a problem can be seen in a typical scenario where a farm is faced with short harvest seasons for its crops. The suggested solutions include: planting other crops or flora to fill in the seasonal void left behind by the main cash crops, capitalizing on the processing of its crops or the involvement of tourists in the DIY experience, adjustments of the crops’ harvest seasons and/or cooperation with agricultural research institutes in the planting of crops of varying harvest seasons, etc. In trying to deal with the problem of short harvest seasons for its pineapples, Dashu Leisure Farm started planting different varieties of pineapples that are harvested at different times of the year. The different types of pineapples not only taste differently and add variety to the main crops but also give rise to a greater selection of processed goods and more ideas for the DIY experience and activity planning. The above-mentioned scenario and suggested remedies can be referenced and employed by those engaged in the industry straight away.
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