Assistance for farmers in producing high-quality agricultural products with plant breeding technologies

Formosa Plastics Groups (FPG) has entrusted Chaoyang University of Technology to implement the program of "Agricultural Production, Crop Quality Improvement, and Farm Management Strategy" over the years. This year is the tenth year. The scope of the program covers seven townships, i.e., Mailiao, Taixi, Sihu, Dacheng, Lunbei, Baozhong, and Dongshi. The integrated program combines the resources from the industry and academia and focuses on five major themes: "Soil Fertility Survey," "Healthy Cultivation Management," "Meteorological Data Evaluation," "Pesticide Residue Testing," and "Agricultural Economics." Through a science-based approach, the expert team introduces a concept of healthy cultivation with scientific management and fewer pesticides and fewer fertilizers to produce quality and safe produce. The team aims to create a brand that can increase the revenue and living environment of farmers. Currently, the number of farmers that have received consultations is 436. All farmers within the consultation region can contact the consultation team for assistance regarding any cultivation issues.

In recent years, the issue of food safety has drawn much attention; "safe and high-quality" has become the main indicator for consumers to purchase agricultural products. The team focuses on the local crops, peanuts, and garlic, as well as the facilities the local farmers have actively invested in over the past two years. With scientific information gathered from soil and water quality analysis, meteorological analysis, and forecasting, the team incorporates measures involving nutrition, irrigation, pruning, and insect pest control. On the basis of integrated health management, the team aims to help the farmers achieve the goal of "safe and high quality" agricultural products by reducing pesticides, reducing fertilizers, and focusing on quality and yields.

The team assists the farmers in understanding soil fertility through soil fertility testing, and then recommends the use of organic fertilizers to improve soil conditions. The team also instructs the farmers to apply appropriate fertilizers, and use control materials to reduce the use of pesticides, in hopes of changing the farmers' ingrained idea about using a lot of fertilizers. After the program, the agricultural outputs have been generally higher than the average value of Yunlin County, and the quality and yields of the crops have obviously been improved. Apart from recommendations on fertilization, the team provides irrigation water quality analysis, text messages on weather information, and feedback on economic analysis, enabling farmers to understand and master the environmental conditions during farming and to adopt preventive measures early.

The technical assistance assists farmers in obtaining certificates in traceability

After the consultation, the harvest quality and yields have been significantly improved. The pesticide residue testing pass rate has reached 100%. Such facts proved that the consultations assisted in the quality control for local agricultural produce.

In addition to improving the plant breeding technologies, the team also assists the farmers in applying for traceability certifications, organic verifications, etc., to improve their incomes. In the future, FPG will invite farmers who have obtained organic certificates to become FPG's organic produce suppliers. The products will be sold at the 7-11 convenient stores across Taiwan to achieve the goal of co-prosperity between FPG and local communities.

Establish local service point to assist farmers with cultivation issues

Since May 2017, we have combined the "Safe Cloud APP" to help farmers produce products that meet the organic standards or with zero detection of pesticides so that they can increase their sales channels and revenue while promoting high-quality local agricultural products. So far, a total of 18 farmers are selling on the app (34 products). Through the "Safe Cloud Consumer Experience Cashback Reward Program" launched in September 2017, the products of the farmers assisted by the Chaoyang Agricultural Team were promoted, and more than 20 products were sold. The team has also assisted in shooting more than 5 promotional videos, which are continuously increasing.

FPG established the "FPG Agriculture and Fisheries Counseling and Consulting Center" at Qiaotou Village, Mailiao Township, Yunlin, to provide services for farmers. Experts from the team moved in to process farmers' inquiries and provide solutions and recommendations. When necessary, experts would also accompany farmers to their farms for diagnosis. Furthermore, the Consulting Center also organizes relevant cultivation programs to enrich farmers' cultivation concept, sets up simple instruments for farmers to perform simple soil analysis, and provides rapid screening for pesticides. Please refer to the following link for contacting the agricultural counseling team or understand relevant information: https://sites.google.com/view/cyutfarmcoach/.