Taipei’s Guandu Nature Park will be selling organic rice from its rice paddies for the first time, the park administration announced Aug. 25.
“The 25 metric tons of rice are guaranteed to be free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” according to the park, which added that the produce has passed a strict pesticide residue test carried out by the Food and Drug Administration under the Department of Health.
Out of 57 hectares covered by the nature park, over 7 hectares are reserved for agriculture, on which local farmers have employed conventional farming methods since the park began operations in 2000.
Starting this spring, a biotechnology company, Advanced Green Biotechnology Inc., has been providing the farmers with knowledge and materials for organic farming, the park administration said.
“We have been promoting small-scale organic and chemical-free farming in the city,” said Chen Hsiung-wen, commissioner of the Department of Economic Development under the Taipei City government. The Baishihu community of Neihu District is also trying out organic farming on its 10 hectares of land, he added.
“Because no chemicals were used, we had to weed the fields three times,” noted Ken Liu, chairman of Advanced Green Biotechnology Inc., who is also the president of Low Carbon Republic, an association expected to be in charge of farming in the nature park next year.
“Although the yield was 6 metric tons less than usual, we think that minimizing the impact on the environment and letting birds and insects coexist with our produce is more important than crop volume,” he added.
To celebrate the harvest and promote organic farming, the association will hold a concert at the Taipei City Council auditorium Sept. 11. (HZW)