While visiting young farmer Wu Tsung-han in Yunlin County today, Premier Chang San-cheng encouraged Wu and his peers to use their passion and creativity to drive Taiwan's agricultural innovation.
The premier commended Wu for returning to his hometown to take up his family's business, and for working proactively to improve bitter-melon cultivation and management as well as conducting research and development of different varieties of this fruit. Furthermore, Wu has striven to increase the added value of bitter-melon products and promote local agricultural education.
After touring the farm, the premier came to know that traditional agriculture can innovate in many areas. He cited the new "apple bitter melon" hybrid as an example.
Wu was among the first batch of 100 young farmers the Council of Agriculture (COA) selected and trained. After completing military service Wu returned to his hometown, where he has worked in agriculture for nine years. He has built on his family business's foundation and coordinated with the government policies of promoting organic production and product traceability, gradually linking his business with the traceable agricultural product system, the COA stated.
Via hands-on guidance of these 100 farmers as well as the incorporation of the young farmers' platforms of 16 county and city agricultural associations, the COA has set up an ifarmer startup web portal employing information and communications technologies to maximize the multifarious effects of online-offline integration. This has successfully established an assistance network for young farmers, the COA affirmed.