In an organic field veiled in the mountain mists of Sindian (新店), Taipei County, towering tea bushes of nearly 30 rare strains enjoy a growing environment in stark contrast to the chemically regulated tea plantations commonly found across the island. Frogs, spiders, birds and all manner of insects thrive in this botanical garden where the equilibrium of Nature keeps weeds and pests in check. "Nature is not a production line … We must comply with the rhythms of nature and merely offer assistance in the right place at the right time," said Chou Hsien-pang (周顯榜), who left his farm fallow for a decade so the soil could recuperate.
Awakening to eco-agriculture
Chou is one of a handful of tea growers in Taiwan that have made the move to ecologically-friendly farming since the country's organic market began to take off in the late 1980s when the Council of Agriculture under the Executive Yuan (COA, 行政院農業委員會) introduced international sustainable organic farming accreditation.
The COA instituted a basic regulatory framework including Production Standards for Organic Agricultural Products (有機農產品生產規範) and has so far approved four bodies to certify organic products — Mokich Okada International Association (MOA, 國際美育自然生態基金會), Taiwan Organic Production Association (TOPA, 台灣省有機農業生產協會), Taiwan Formosa Organic Association (FOA, 台灣寶島有機農業發展協會) and Tse-Xin Organic Agricultural Foundation (TOAF, 慈心有機農業發展基金會).
Currently, local organic plantations cover 1,300 hectares of land, less than one percent of the nation's total farming capacity, a figure far below most developed countries whose organic cultivation areas usually make up 10 percent of total plantations. As for organic tea fields, there are about 56 plantations in Taiwan that take up roughly 72 hectares of land and most of them are found in Nantou County (南投縣), Chiayi County (嘉義縣) and Taipei County (台北縣), according to statistics released by the COA.
But what exactly does organic tea mean?
The cultivation of organic tea has progressed at a relatively slow rate because Taiwan's climate is conducive to insect infestations, and growers face the geographic restraints of having to work with small plantations that are costly to convert to organic practices. Not only do small farmers shoulder higher production costs but their fields are also liable to be contaminated by pollutants from neighboring farms.
"Not every piece of farming land can be adapted to organic cultivation. Organic fields require buffer zones to prevent chemical pollutants from outside sources reaching the irrigation system, [which] has to be free of chemical and heavy metal substances," said Su Mu-jung (蘇慕容), TOAF vice executive officer.
Prospective organic tea fields need to lie fallow for three years to build up nutrient levels and neutralize the chemical residues left in soils from past cultivation practices. It's out with herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers and in with environmentally-friendly farming techniques.
Weeds are taken care of the old fashioned way, manure is used and leguminous plants are grown to increase the fertility of the soil. Organic fertilizers are more costly than chemical versions since they are low in nitrogen — the main nutrient for tea trees — and require large amounts to fertilize the same area. But a farmer's worst nightmares are bugs.
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