The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday honored Taitung County rice farmer Hsieh Mei-kuo (謝美國) with a plaque that reads “Taiwan’s glory” for being the first Taiwanese to win gold at a rice competition in Japan.
More than 5,000 rice products from Japan and around the world competed in the annual International Contest on Rice Taste Evaluation in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.
The 87-year-old Taiwanese farmer, who has grown rice for nearly six decades, won the award with his organic rice grown in Taitung’s Chihshang Township (池上).
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
His rice breed, named Kaohsiung No. 147, features a light taro aroma and was cultivated by members of the COA’s Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station.
Producing a quality crop requires the subtle combination of good weather and unpolluted soil and water, as well as consistent human effort, Hsieh said.
Weather conditions can have a great effect on agricultural production, and farmers in Taitung have to contend with foehn winds that can ruin crops overnight, he said.
Hsieh added that for him, the knowledge needed to produce quality rice is more profound than that of calligraphy.
Ranked first in a contest against products from the US, Thailand, China and other nations, Hsieh’s rice qualified to compete against Japanese products, Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said.
In the contest with Japanese products, Hsieh’s rice received the second-largest number of votes and won a gold prize, he said.
As Japan highly values rice quality and flavor, Hsieh’s rice could be said to be among the world’s best, Hu said.
Taiwanese farmers had previously received only excellence awards, Hu added.
Last month, 1,140 tonnes of Taiwanese rice were sold to Japan, more than double the annual average in previous years, and 1,400 tonnes are expected to be sold to Japan next year, he said.
Taiwan last year produced up to 1.4 million tonnes of rice, with domestic consumption accounting for 1.2 million tonnes, Food Industry Division Director Lin Chuan-chi (林傳琦) said, adding that only a few thousand tonnes were organic.
To solve an overproduction problem, the agency has advised farmers to grow less and focus on higher-quality breeds, or to turn rice into snack products, while encouraging consumers to purchase domestic products, Hu said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique