ABSTRACT
The concept of the farm as a system and the examination of interdependences among its component parts are key to the conceptual framework of farming systems research and extension. This chapter focuses on the limitations of the conceptual framework through a case study of the evolution of the farming system in Hsin Hsing, a village in Chang-hua County, Taiwan, between 1958 and 1979. Although most village households continue to farm, few depend on farming alone. Farming and off-farm work have become inextricably intertwined in what we have termed the household enterprise. Changes in inter- and intra-household dynamics in the village are considered within the framework. The policies adopted by the government to foster economic growth were accompanied by profound changes in Hsin Hsing's farming system. Although most households in Hsin Hsing continued to farm, in nearly all cases farming was combined with and conditioned by off-farm employment.
