Facing the biggest dry spell in a decade, with farmers forced to let their lands lie fallow due to water restrictions, the Qianjia community-supported agriculture project in Hsinchu City called on the government to take a page from the wisdom of their Aboriginal ancestors by encouraging farmers to plant hardy crops in times of drought.
The project is a communal experiment aimed at creating a self-sustaining micro-economic cycle in which agricultural producers’ work benefits consumers, whose actions in turn benefit farmers. The farmers endeavor to refrain from using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, while the consumers help shoulder the cost of agricultural labor, as well as crop failure risks.
Most of the project’s participants are Aborigines living in Hsinchu, the project said.
According to pastor Sakinu Tepiq, of Taitung County’s Paiwan people, who supplied the project with his own research variety of millet and quinoa seeds, both crops are extremely resilient to weather.
It is the food given to man by God for famine and drought, as very little water is needed, Tepiq said, adding that the crops’ strong resilience made them a natural choice to be grown by Aborigines.
Tepiq also said that Aborigines viewed the stalks and grains of millet crops as sacred items during their ceremonies thanking the heavens and ancestors.
Liu Mei-ling (劉美玲), director-general of the Libahak Organization, the project’s main backer, said that the government should come up with more options for farmers during droughts aside from limiting their water usage.
They should encourage farmers to plant more crops that are resilient during droughts and still retain some economic value, Liu said, adding that such an action would not only allow the people to be one with the land, but would also help to promote traditional Aboriginal crops.
Millet is a crop that is alkalic and holds small amounts of starch, and is beneficial to people who suffer from diabetes, Tepiq said, adding that millet was also rich in vegetable protein.
Tepiq said that quinoa, called rainbow rice due the variety of colors that can be seen while it matures, can be made into wine or cookies, and is even more resilient to heat than millet, adding that he had already planted more than 200 hectares of land with quinoa.
The organization seeded the land in Hsinchu under Tepiq’s supervision yesterday, covering the seeds with dirt and praying silently for a harvest in time for the Harvest Festival (豐年祭) in August.
According to the organization, both crops only have a four-month growth period, after which they can be harvested.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition