Taiwan Today

Forward-looking policies are giving rise to a technology-intensive, value-added agricultural model.

Agricultural scientist Wang Ching-i (王靜儀) left the public sector in 2016 to join husband Liu Chien-shen’s (劉建伸) aquaculture company Fongyu Corp. The couple, former employees of Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station in Changzhi Township of southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County, relocated the business to Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (PABP) the following year. There they established a facility to farm bass and tilapia fingerlings cultured in seawater.

The company’s fish are grown using probiotics-infused feed and tank water. Fongyu acquired the proprietary technology for mass-producing and preserving the bacteria used in this process from the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) in northern Taiwan’s Keelung City. The FRI, park and couple’s former employer all operate under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA).

According to Wang, probiotics promote fish growth by improving water quality and strengthening the creatures’ immune systems. “The use of this technology is becoming standard among park tenants,” she said. “Probiotics ensure stable aquaculture breeding environments while strengthening product branding.”

Cultivating Collaboration

Fongyu received funding from PABP to purchase the probiotics technology as part of wide-ranging government initiatives to foster the agricultural biotechnology industry. Last year, the park provided subsidies ranging from NT$300,000 to $750,000 (US$10,000-$25,000) to 15 resident companies for cross-sector collaboration and research commercialization programs.

According to PABP Director-General Chang Su-san (張淑賢), the subsidies are awarded to a maximum of 20 projects each year with the aim of advancing a technology-intensive, value-added agricultural model. “We’ve helped tenants build connections and seek technical support from more than 300 experts at over 30 research and tertiary institutions including National Kaohsiung Marine University and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology,” she said.

More than 99 percent of Taiwan’s agricultural producers are small and medium enterprises with less than NT$100 million (US$3.33 million) in annual revenues or fewer than 50 employees, Chang noted. “As a result, we offer guidance in such areas as updating core processes and promoting talent cultivation.”

Fostering academic-public-private collaboration is essential if the industry is to achieve its full potential, said Wu Jen-leih (吳金洌‬), a visiting fellow in the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology at Taipei City-based Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s foremost research institution. Wu formerly led the Development Program of Industrialization for Agricultural Biotechnology. Running 2009 to 2013, the NT$2.4 billion (US$80 million) initiative was funded primarily by the COA, Academia Sinica and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), with additional support coming from the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Education, and Health and Welfare.

Over 160 companies participated in the program aimed at commercializing biotech innovations in industries spanning aquaculture, livestock and plant cultivation. The project led to the transfer of 277 locally developed technologies and the establishment of six companies. Today, Wu is continuing this work as head of the Academia Sinica-based Analysis and Promotion of Agriculture Biotechnology Office.

The molecular biologist said that Taiwan’s high level of agricultural expertise results from its centurylong accumulation of research and technical advances since Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945). “Now it’s time to embrace the era of smart agriculture by using biotech to create value-added products,” he said. “These efforts should leverage Taiwan’s strengths in automation and information and communication technology.”

Planting Seeds

Spanning 233 hectares, PABP is the tip of the spear in the modernization of Taiwan’s agricultural sector. Established in 2006, the park is home to 105 companies in industries such as animal feed and vaccines, biofertilizers and biopesticides, cosmetics, environmental control systems, health foods and testing services. Featuring on-site customs, inspection and quarantine facilities, it had attracted investment totaling NT$10.46 billion (US$348.7 million) by the end of April.

Production value of resident companies exceeded NT$6.5 billion (US$216.7 million) in 2017, Chang said, adding that this figure is projected to reach NT$18 billion (US$600 million) following completion of a 165-hectare expansion project. Slated to open by the end of next year, the additional space is expected to raise the number of tenants to 180.

Bioagriculture intersects several elements in the government’s core economic revitalization program. The five-plus-two innovative industries initiative targets biotech and pharmaceuticals, green energy, Internet of Things, national defense and smart machinery as well as the circular economy and a new paradigm for agricultural development.

Given its expertise in the emerging field, PABP is taking on a nationwide role. The park authority is overseeing construction of a 98-hectare high-tech agricultural business facility featuring storm-reinforced greenhouses in central Taiwan’s Changhua County as well as a 17-hectare logistics site for cold chain distribution near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the northern city.

Also coming under PABP management is the 175-hectare Taiwan Orchid Plantation. The cluster of around 60 growers in the southern city of Tainan is currently overseen by the local government. “Integration of these parks in northern, central and southern Taiwan will help foster business exchanges, strengthen resource sharing among public and private sector groups and upgrade production processes toward the establishment of a comprehensive high-tech agricultural supply chain,” Chang said.

Growing Markets

According to the director-general, the growth of the nation’s bioagriculture industry is expected to deepen Taiwan’s economic ties with Southeast Asia. PABP residents hold technological advantages over competitors in the region and are eyeing rising demand for both consumer and industrial goods, she added.

Fongyu is among the tenants growing its presence in Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states. The company exports to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and plans are in the works to offer aquaculture equipment and technical services in the countries, Wang said. A similar model is being adopted by fellow park resident Advanced Green Biotechnology (AGB), one of Taiwan’s largest biofertilizer and biopesticide manufacturers.

The company was founded in 2002 at the incubation center of National Chung Hsing University in Taichung City, central Taiwan, to commercialize agricultural biotech research on microorganisms. It relocated to PABP six years later. “The international trend toward nonchemical pesticides and fertilizers offers abundant ecological benefits and business opportunities,” Chairman Ken Liu (劉健誼) said.

AGB entered the industry before a regulatory framework was established to distinguish biological and chemical formulations. This came in 2007 with the promulgation of the Agricultural Production and Certification Act, which provided a legal definition in Taiwan for the term “organic agricultural product.” Government initiatives encouraging farmers to use nonchemical fertilizers and pesticides soon followed, propelling the growth of AGB and other producers.

The company has also benefited from government programs to support research commercialization and tie-ups. AGB’s biopesticide using the Bacillus mycoides bacteria to treat orchid seedlings with yellow-leaf disease evolved out of its participation in Wu’s five-year program.

In addition to biofertilizers and biopesticides, the firm sells fermentation systems under the brand Bio Bar to large farms in countries including China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. “Compared with buying ready-made agents, on-site cultivation can offer significant cost reductions,” Liu said.

The system, comprising a fermentation tank as well as water filtration and heating devices, was designed for easy shipment in cargo containers. AGB has patented the technology in Taiwan, China and the U.S. “Microbiology holds the key to developing blue ocean markets in the traditional field of agriculture,” Liu said, referring to the concept of creating new business spheres devoid of competition.

“Using bacteria can be more effective than chemical pesticides and protects the environment,” he said. “Such biotech applications will be essential going forward as consumers and regulators place increasing attention on environmental and food safety issues.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw