The nation’s first coffee trade center was yesterday founded in the Aboriginal Ulaljuc community in Pingtung County’s Taiwu Township (泰武).
The county government first helped local farmers establish the Alliance of Coffee in Pingtung’s Aboriginal Townships, which became the foundation for the trade center.
More than 350 hectares in the county are used for coffee cultivation by 360 coffee farmers, Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday, adding that both figures were higher than in any other municipality.
The center can serve as a platform for trading classified coffee beans, through which farmers can secure stable incomes, he said.
With the production area as an umbrella brand, local farmers can develop their own distinctive products while working together to break into the international market, he added.
US Web site coffeereview.com has listed the county’s coffee among the top three in the Asia-Pacific region, while the county was identified as a representative production area in Taiwan, Pan said.
The county on Thursday signed a purchase memorandum with US-based Isla Custom Coffees, in which promised to buy 7 tonnes of coffee beans from the county over 10 years, he said.
During his fourth visit to Taiwan, company founder R. Miguel Meza was quoted by Pingtung Indigenous Peoples Department Director-General Wu Li-hua (伍麗華) as saying that he was surprised to see how much progress the county has made in coffee production.
Meza added that he believed the county’s coffee would one day claim a prominent position in the world, Wu said.
Trade at the center proceeds like auctions of coffee beans in other countries, but the center offers a special service — quick tests for insecticide residue, alliance secretary-general Tang Sheng (唐笙) said.
Coffee beans grown in Pingtung are Typica, a cultivar of arabica, Tang said.
Because Typica beans are not easy to cultivate, global production of the cultivar has dropped, Tang said.
The Typica beans have acquired a special flavor after about 100 years of cultivation in Taiwan, he added.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS