The goal of making NT$1 million (US$30,242) per year has long been an aspiration for Taiwanese, and while most of those who are able to achieve that goal are white-collar workers, the experience of Tseng Chia-lin (曾加霖) and Huang Chun-hao (黃俊豪) have shown that young farmers can too.
The farmers’ association in Tainan’s Jiangjun District (將軍) has seen firsthand the impact of the nation’s aging demographics on the agricultural sector, as the average age of residents of local agricultural communities is about 62 years old, so it is taking steps to draw young people back to farming.
The association, in collaboration with the Council of Agriculture, provides subsidies to encourage young people to take up farming.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
The association has established courses that help young farmers learn production management and marketing, and also sponsored farmers’ markets to aid the sale of farmers’ produce, association director-general Wu Ming-cheng (吳明成) said.
Traditional agriculture is labor intensive, which has discouraged young people from pursuing farming as a career, but recent years have brought changes in concepts regarding agriculture, Wu said.
Many of the young people now involved in farming in the district have left other professions and are interested in farming because they want to work closer to nature or to live in a rural area, Wu said.
Chen Li-hao (陳力豪), 24, is one such example.
He has a master’s degree in economics and used to work as stock analyst, but decided to move to Jiangjun two years ago because he no longer wanted to work in an office, Wu said.
Chen said he had no previous farming experience since he did not come from a farming family, but he was willing to bear the risks of natural disaster and pests that come with farming.
The majority of young farmers in the district are under 40 years old and some were able to make NT$1 million last year by growing corn, asparagus and fruits, Wu said.
Their achievements have come as a surprise to many older farmers, association staffer Lin Yen-liang (林彥良) said.
We hope that these young farmers will remain in the community to help rejuvenate farming villages and the industry as a whole, Wu said.
However, sounding like the analyst he once was, Chen said that farming was not a guaranteed ticket to a better life and individuals should weigh the risks accordingly.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS