To encourage young farmers to return to rural villages, the Council of Agriculture plans to work with other government agencies to promote long-term care programs in remote areas, council Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) told a forum in Taipei yesterday.
The two-day forum which began yesterday was organized by the council and is taking place at National Taiwan University.
Asked about the council’s position on illegal structures built on farmland in Yilan County, Lin said the agriculture sector would be without hope if farmland is used to build houses.
People in the past often evaluated agriculture from a capitalistic perspective, but now they should explore ways that sustainable farming can allow humans, nature and culture to coexist, he said.
The Rural Revitalization Act (農村再生條例) was promulgated in 2010, but the government used the act’s budget to build cement structures in rural villages and did little to revitalize local cultures, he said.
To expedite the revival of rural villages, the council in March launched a program called “Rural Revitalization 2.0,” which places more emphasis on assisting young farmers, promoting casual agriculture and cross-disciplinary collaboration, it said in a statement at the time.
The council hopes to foster the idea among young people that living in rural villages can be fashionable and appealing, rather than something that entails reluctant sacrifices, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the council expects to work with other government agencies to introduce Long-term Care Services Program 2.0 services and experimental education to young farmers in remote regions, he said.
For rural cultures to be revived, mayors and county commissioners should look at agriculture with broader vision, rather than treating farmland as nothing but commercial assets like acting Yilan County Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), said Wu Guo-wei (吳國維), president of Luodong Community University in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東).
People should reconnect with their local cultures and ancestral knowledge about farming and rural living, said Chiu Hsing-wei (邱星崴), director of Cultimount Co in Miaoli County’s Nanjhuang Township (南庄).
Living like a local is difficult for people to do nowadays, given the effects of globalization, which encourages a homogenous lifestyle, Chiu said.
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