Food and Fertilizer Technology Center - News

FFTC Director Dr. Su-San Chang, Deputy Director Dr. Tomonari Watanabe and Agricultural Economist Mr. Kyong Won Lee recently visited the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (TNDARES) of the Council of Agriculture. The purpose of this visit was to consult with Director Dr.  Hung -Ying Yang and her fellow researchers on current issues TNDARES and other agricultural organizations are facing in the context of global problems, like food security, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change.

The issues on labor shortage and the increasing number of ageing farmers, overproduction of rice and promotion of alternative crops (corn and sorghum), improving soil quality and breeding climate-resilient vegetable varieties were mentioned in the discussion.  Every year, TNDARES organizes more than 100 training programs both onsite and online on varied topics like soil analysis and fertilizer recommendation, integrated pest management (IPM), among others.  It also sends specialists to farmers' associations to donduct training courses.  Recently, they launched a horticulture therapy program. 

Both organizations hope to pursue a collaboration in the future covering the issues on crop value chain or attracting the young generation to be engaged in agricultural activities.