Beginning in July, a series of powerful typhoons battered Taiwan, affecting millions of people in a scenario that occurs each summer and fall in the East Asian nation. Typhoon Megi, which made landfall Sept. 27 in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien City, was responsible for more than NT$2.78 billion (US$85.5 million) in damage to the agricultural industry alone, not counting over NT$570 million (US$17.5 million) in losses in the fishing, forestry and livestock sectors, according to the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA). In southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County, however, a number of specially designed greenhouses weathered the storms, their structures mostly unscathed and the crops inside intact. The facilities are reinforced with steel beams and powered by solar panels that partially cover their roofs. These generate ample electricity to power atmospheric regulation and irrigation systems, with the excess sold to the national energy grid.
The construction of typhoon-defying, power-generating farming facilities is made possible through the application of practical ideas and advanced technologies designed to protect against adverse weather conditions such as cold snaps, droughts and floods, according to Lur Huu-sheng (盧虎生), a professor in the Department of Agronomy at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei City. Lur pointed out that in five of the last 10 years, annual agricultural losses due to climate factors reached NT$10 billion (US$307.7 million). “In the face of climate change threats, embracing new technologies could turn moments of crisis into opportunities to establish a model for sustainable agricultural development,” he said.
Regarding other major issues in the agricultural sector, such as the shrinking labor force and increasingly liberalized global markets, Lur said the development and use of new automation and mechanization technologies also play a central role.
High-tech greenhouses are developed at the Industrial Technology Research Institute in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County.
Experience and Ingenuity
Located in the Western Pacific along the Tropic of Cancer, Taiwan is exposed to natural hazards such as earthquakes, flooding and tropical storms. This has necessitated the development of technologies to protect the nation’s farms and resulted in valuable expertise that Taiwan is putting to use in and around the region. “Our talent for building such agricultural facilities as tropical greenhouses can be utilized in other tropical and subtropical zones, giving us distinct advantages in both knowledge and ability over other developed countries like Japan,” said Lur, a rice expert who formerly headed the COA’s Department of Science and Technology.
Based in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City, the government-supported Agricultural Technology Research Institute (ATRI) is aiding international and Taiwan-owned businesses in Southeast Asia. Working in collaboration with the Taipei-headquartered World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, the ATRI has signed a number of memorandums of understanding with firms and business organizations on fostering cooperation in technology transfers and industrialization. These efforts are in line with the government’s New Southbound Policy, which seeks to deepen business and cultural links with Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, according to ATRI President Lee Wen-chuan (李文權).
Lee pointed out that cooperation on agricultural technologies is a good way to push forward the New Southbound Policy, especially due to advances being made by the COA’s research organizations and experimental centers such as the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, as well as agriculture departments at universities around the nation. These schools include NTU, National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, National Chiayi University in the southern city of Chiayi and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology. Research conducted by these institutions has led to the establishment of some of the largest biofertilizer and biopesticide plants in Southeast Asia at the COA’s Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park, which opened in 2003 and now houses more than 90 companies.
High-tech systems and materials are tested at an ITRI-designed tropical greenhouse in Hsinchu County.
Organic Approach
Lee said that advances in biotechnology are highly beneficial to the agricultural industry. The study and use of microorganisms in industrial decomposition and fermentation processes, for example, are crucial for the emerging organic pesticide and fertilizer sectors. In 2007, he noted, “organic agricultural product” became a legal term through its inclusion in the Agricultural Production and Certification Act promulgated the same year. This was followed soon afterward by government initiatives that subsidize farmers’ use of nonchemical fertilizers and pesticides. Moreover, Lee added, “microbiology plays a leading role in circular agriculture, which includes transforming and recycling the waste and byproducts of production processes.” According to Lur, turning formerly discarded materials such as animal excretions and fruit peels into usable resources “cuts production costs and reduces the social cost of environmental pollution.”
The ATRI’s Plant Technology Laboratories have targeted microbial agents, as well as plant seedlings and food safety, as potentially lucrative. Currently, around 60 companies that research and produce plant, animal and aquatic technologies have staff members interning at the ATRI’s facilities. “They’re not just learning about cutting-edge technologies, but also relevant management concepts and skills,” Lee said. “Beginning next year, we’ll also focus on helping launch technology startups.”
According to the ATRI chief, his organization is committed to furthering Taiwan’s efforts to form a complete value chain in the country’s agricultural technology sector, from research to application and eventual commercialization.
White grapefruits are grown at the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station in southern Taiwan.
Better Crops
Institutions such as the Taipei City-based Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center (ABRC) have also added momentum to technological progress. The organization was established in 2006 under Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s foremost research institute.
One of the ABRC’s major fields of study is plant stress biology, which concerns plants’ responses to unfavorable conditions such as high temperatures, droughts and flooding, as well as pollution by heavy metals. Its goal is to help crops cope with adverse environments. “Global warming and its impacts on local flora have been among our central concerns for several years,” said Yeh Kuo-chen (葉國楨), a research fellow and interim director of the ABRC who studies the molecular mechanisms of heavy metal homeostasis in plants.
Yeh pointed out that the ABRC takes a primarily Taiwan-centric approach to most of its research. “We study and keep records of local agricultural resources such as bacteria endemic to Taiwan that can be used to fight diseases commonly affecting rice crops,” he said. Working in tandem with the semiofficial Taiwan Banana Research Institute, established in 1970 and located in Pingtung’s Jiuru Township, the center studies the development of the tropical fruit, one of Taiwan’s major agricultural exports. The ABRC also researches the medicinal properties of local plants, and plans are in the works to make use of the organization’s findings on selected farms, Yeh added.
The interim director said that while the ABRC assists the business sector with advice and information regarding advances in areas such as new plant breeding, the organization’s ultimate goal is to foster the next generation of agricultural scientists. “Their enthusiasm, if properly channeled, will have a great impact on the world.” Young people are taking part in a farming revival driven by innovation, Lur said. “Taiwan’s advanced high-tech industry and superior farming techniques give it a great advantage in spearheading a new era of smart agriculture.”
Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw
PHOTOS BY CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY, HUANG CHUNG-HSIN AND JIMMY LIN AND COURTESY OF KAOHSIUNG DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND EXTENSION STATION, PINGTUNG COUNTY GOVERNMENT, TAINAN DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND EXTENSION STATION AND TANG YING-HUA