Concern over the aging population of farmers has prompted the Let It Be organization to introduce a “helper” system that was prevalent in farming villages of old, hoping to solve the shortage of labor.
The organization is best-known for its promotion of natural agricultural techniques in Tainan’s Houbi District (後壁), and its helper system involves farmers working in neighbors’ fields.
The method helps to relieve the burden on farmers who usually work alone, Let It Be said, adding that the method is also more productive.
Three of the eight members of the organization’s management team under the Khao-Kwan Foundation’s Tainan branch have been working fields larger than 1 hectare, it said, adding that starting next year, its members hope to average 1 hectare per person.
While the figure might seem insignificant to farmers employing modern farming methods, it is a significant amount of land to be farmed by groups that use natural or organic farming methods, Let It Be said.
The helper system does more than solve a shortage of labor in farming villages, farmer Huang Yi-chen (黃以振) said, adding that it brings members of small communities closer together.
The increased interactions allow members of communities to become more familiar with one another, in turn introducing the opportunity to gather after work, or during the idle season, to chat or have a cup of tea.
Due to their decision to stay in the area, the group was also able to befriend locals, Huang said, adding that the organization was given the opportunity to promote its ideals to local elementary-school teachers and to offer aid at events that overlap with farming.
The helper system has helped mold individual farmers into a farming group that not only helps itself, but also promotes individual products, Huang said, adding that Let It Be is looking to introduce the method to other farming communities.
“We hope that such acts will help to revitalize farming and agriculture throughout the nation,” Chen said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS