Given the high demand in that era, grasses went from being wild plants to being deliberately cultivated crops. According to a 1917 survey by the Governor-General's Office of the Japanese occupation era, 2500 hectares of farmland across the island were devoted to thatch grass cultivation, in which Ilan was the leader.
在當時大量的需求下，這些茅草、菅草由雜草被人們提昇為農作物，根據日據時代（一九一七年）台灣總督府的調查，全省茅草的栽培面積將近兩千五百甲，其中尤其以宜蘭產量佔第一。