Back when Chou Chun-chi (周俊吉) was an undergraduate in the mid-1980s, he often spent his free time riding his motorcycle along the narrow roads and twisting lanes that separate the farms of central Taiwan. A diligent student of plant pathology, he would glance at the crops as he passed by, pulling over if spotted any signs of disease. He would then seek out the agricultural workers responsible for the fields so he could discuss the matter with them and offer some advice. “I’d help them by recommending pesticides, which often proved quite effective,” recalls Chou, who went on to earn a Ph.D. in plant pathology from National Chung Hsing University in central Taiwan’s Taichung City.
In the decades since, the 51-year-old has radically changed his approach to agriculture. While conducting postdoctoral research in the United States in the early 2000s, he witnessed firsthand the growth of organic farming and came to appreciate the advantages of eco-friendly methods of cultivation. In 2005, Chou co-founded Tenha Organic Farm in Rende Township in southern Taiwan’s Tainan County, now Rende District of Tainan City. At that time, it was the largest farm of its kind in the nation. “I could see that organic agriculture was going to become popular in Taiwan just as it had done in the United States, and I was eager to help develop this practice in my own country,” he explains.
Chou’s prediction concerning the growth of the sector has been borne out in the years since he established Tenha. His farm—which initially occupied nearly 10 hectares, hence its name, before later being enlarged to 16 hectares—has since been surpassed by several others in terms of size. At present, the largest such farm in the country spans 79 hectares. According to the Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA), there were 6,071 hectares of officially certified organic farmland in Taiwan last year. This marked an almost 390 percent increase from 2004, when the country was home to just 1,246 hectares of accredited organic cropland.
Compared with many Western nations, Taiwan is a late adopter of these agricultural practices. The first step toward the introduction of such methods was taken in 1987 when the COA launched a research program to assess the feasibility of establishing organic farms. In 1990, an affiliate of the Japan-based Mokichi Okada International Association (MOA), which promotes integrative medicine, eco-friendly farming and the arts, was set up in Taiwan. This was the first local nongovernmental organization (NGO) solely dedicated to the advancement of organic cultivation. In the following years, a number of similar groups emerged.
The government responded to the growth of the eco-friendly agriculture movement by publishing national organic standards in 1999. Another major boost to the development of the sector occurred in 2007 when the Agricultural Production and Certification Act took effect. This law regulates how organic products should be produced, processed and packaged, and introduced penalties of up to NT$1 million (US$32,260) for individuals or companies that deliberately mislabel food as conforming to the official standards. The act also allows for the disqualification of certification bodies that are found to be negligent in accrediting organic farmland. The AFA performs regular spot checks on products labeled as organic to ensure the integrity of both growers and certifying organizations.
In 2001, the MOA became the first group in Taiwan that was licensed to accredit crop growers according to the national organic criteria. Today, there are 10 such bodies. Meanwhile, the National Animal Industry Foundation (NAIF), a government-supported nonprofit organization, is the only entity in Taiwan that can certify farms as following the national standards for organic livestock, which were published in 2003.
A variety of government bodies have become actively involved in promoting the growth of eco-friendly farming in recent years. In 2009, several local governments began leasing cropland from the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp., which possesses considerable land resources across the nation, and subletting it to farmers for organic crop cultivation. Likewise, the Cabinet-level Veterans Affairs Council, which also controls significant areas of agricultural land around Taiwan, has leased plots directly to farmers for the same purpose. From 2009 to 2014, these initiatives led to the establishment of 14 organic farming areas spanning 642 hectares.
Local NGOs are also playing a significant role in boosting the development of eco-friendly farming. One of the foremost of these groups is the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation. Established in 1997, the organization began certifying organic growers in 2003, before splitting off its accreditation division as an independent entity called Tse-Xin Organic Certification Corp. in 2011. Today, this corporation is responsible for certifying approximately one-third of the organic farmland in Taiwan.
Furthermore, the foundation established Leezen Co., a chain of 112 organic food stores located throughout the country, and has developed initiatives to teach farmers about organic and sustainable growing practices. Prominent farms in the sector like Tenha also help educate agricultural workers. “Many farmers have visited us to learn more about eco-friendly practices, and some of them now supply us with organic produce, which we repackage and sell under our brand name,” Chou says.
It is important to note that the amount of officially certified organic farmland conveys an incomplete picture of the growth of the sector. “Large farms are eager to get accredited because they know it will help their sales, whereas smaller ones don’t feel they need to because they primarily sell their produce to a small group of people consisting of relatives, friends and consumers that learned about them through word of mouth,” explains Li Tsang-lang (李蒼郎), director-general of the AFA.
Even though they might meet the criteria, many small-scale farmers elect against applying for certification due to the costs and hassles involved. There are also a considerable number of farms that do not meet all of the standards for organic certification but have made substantial progress toward achieving this goal by, for instance, choosing to forgo the use of chemical pesticides. Produce grown by these farms is sometimes labeled as toxin-free, though this is not an officially recognized designation.
Yang Cheng-hsin (楊振鑫), who has a small farm in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District, practiced eco-friendly farming for several years before obtaining organic certification. Initially, he raised crops just for personal use. “I decided to grow organic produce for the sake of my family’s health,” explains the lean, swarthy 47-year-old, who works only part time as a farmer. Two years ago, he started selling his rice and vegetables to the public, and thus opted to apply for certification.
Yang’s 3.18-hectare farm was accredited as organic last year. His plot was also granted Tse-Xin’s Green Conservation label in recognition of his adoption of agricultural methods that protect local animal life. “We created this designation with the aim of eliminating farming practices that are harmful to wildlife,” explains Su Muh-rong (蘇慕容), chief executive officer of Tse-Xin.
The label was first granted in 2011 to farmers in Tainan’s Guantian District. According to Su, between 2009 and 2010 more than 100 wild pheasant-tailed jacanas died as a result of the chemicals used in water caltrop fields in the area. In response, the COA’s Forestry Bureau commissioned Tse-Xin to help locals modify their farming techniques to protect the bird species. To date, the Green Conservation label has been awarded to a total of 210 hectares of farmland in Taiwan.
While considerable progress has been made in a relatively short period, organic farming comprises just a small fraction of the nation’s agricultural sector. It is difficult to determine the total area of uncertified farmland dedicated to eco-friendly practices, but the AFA believes it is smaller than the amount of accredited organic farmland, which accounts for just 0.75 percent of all croplands in the country. When it comes to organic livestock production, the room for improvement is even greater. Besides Tenha, which in 2009 became the first farm to be certified by the NAIF as raising organic poultry, just two others have been accredited as producing organic chickens and eggs. At present, these are the only farms in Taiwan raising organic livestock.
The high cost of eco-friendly agriculture is a major reason why many farmers adhere to conventional practices. “Only about half my chickens grow to adulthood, whereas the percentage for traditionally raised ones is more than 90 percent,” explains Chou. Likewise, Li notes that the production volume of croplands cultivated organically is about 20 to 50 percent lower than those where typical methods are used.
Things are looking up, however. With eco-friendly agricultural techniques improving on an annual basis, the gap between organic and conventional farming in terms of production efficiency is consistently narrowing. Tenha, for example, has seen its revenue grow by more than 150 percent since 2008, even though the size of its farmland remained unchanged during this period. Furthermore, the AFA now offers subsidies covering at least two-thirds of the fees that farmers must pay to accreditation bodies for organic certification.
Most importantly, Yang notes, consumers are increasingly conscious of food safety issues, and are willing to pay a premium for organic produce. “The demand surpasses what I can supply,” the farmer says. “Customers have to call me in advance to place orders, and latecomers usually find there’s nothing left.”
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw