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COA promotes farm village visits with bicycle tour contest

“A pair of cyclists will be selected as ‘farm gurus.’”

— Ko Yung-chuan, Soil and Water Conservation Bureau rural division chief

In an effort to get city folks to visit farm villages for tours and do-it-yourself leisure activities, the Council of Agriculture (COA) is offering a pair of all-expense paid 45-day cycling trips around the nation. At the end of the trip, the winners will also take home a new bicycle, valued at NT$35,000, and other freebies.

The section chief of the council’s Soil and Water Conservation Bureau’s rural division Ko Yung-chuan (柯勇全) said that over the past years, the bureau had been pushing its “Rich New Farm Villages.” A total of 123 farm villages around the nation had been selected for promotion, Ko said, adding that for two years the bureau had been offering city travelers “tour passports.”

“The passports are free at chain stores such as OK convenience store and Eslite bookstores. Once you collect a certain number of stamps from visiting the villages, you can mail your passport to the bureau to enter raffles,” Ko said.

The bicycle trip is the bureau’s latest effort to encourage people to enjoy the charm of the countryside, Ko said.

“A pair of cyclists will be selected as ‘farm gurus.’ Sponsorship for each of the two will include a bicycle, necessary biking equipment such as biking pants, shirts, and gloves, as well as a GPS system,” Ko said. “Room and board will be provided as well by the villages they visit.”

The gurus will draft their own travel proposals to visit the 123 villages in 45 days, Ko said, adding that they are to keep an online blog and update it daily with pictures and text.

“Bicycles are obviously becoming popular on this island. We hope that with this event, people will be more encouraged to bike to farms, which is the best way to visit them in the LOHAS [Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability] style,” Ko said.

The Rich New Farm Village campaign was inspired by the fact that the agricultural sector only makes up 2 percent of GDP if crops alone are considered. However, if farm tours and leisure activity services are also taken into consideration, that number would soar to 13 percent, Ko said.

“It’s a double win situation for city people to visit farms,” he said.

For more information, visit www.trip123.com.tw.
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