President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday congratulated the 36 recipients of this year's Shen Nung Prize (神農, divine farmer), whom he lauded as an important driving force behind Taiwan's overall development.
In an audience at the Presidential Office with the Shen Nung Prize winners, Chen offered his appreciation and gratitude. He said the prize winners represent Taiwan's entire agricultural population.
Chen said Taiwan's farmers are the best example of the "Taiwan spirit," which he said means perseverance in the face of great hardship.
He noted that Taiwan's agricultural sector has borne the full brunt of the adverse impacts of Taiwan's accession to the WTO Jan. 1 this year, namely increased and more diversified imports of agricultural products from abroad.
Taiwan's WTO accession, nevertheless, has also opened doors for Taiwan's farmers and businesses alike to reach even larger markets abroad, Chen noted.
Although Taiwan's WTO membership means challenges and increasing competition for domestic farmers, it also brings business opportunities, he said.
Chen promised the farmers that the government will always be with them during their endeavor to transform their operations and seek new horizons of development.
Shaking hands with each of the prize winners, Chen said that as a farmer's son, he knows more than well the hardships of farming and being a farmer.
Of the 36 winners, the youngest is 28 years old and the oldest 70 years old, while 12 are women.
The Shen Nung Prize, established in 1982 by the Taiwan provincial government when Lee Teng-hui (
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