The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday introduced seedling trays made of paper pulp that decompose in nature and urged farmers to join its effort to eliminate single-use plastic products.
Developed by the council’s Hualien District Agriculture Research and Extension Station and the Hsing Chung Paper Co, the trays decompose in soil in 30 to 40 days, station Acting Director Tsai Yi-fong (蔡宜峯) told a news conference in Taipei.
The eco-friendly trays are expected to replace plastic ones, which are a major source of agricultural waste, given nearly 10 million of them are used by farmers every year, he said.
Suitable for vegetable seedlings, each paper pulp tray can carry 25 seeds and keep out invasive weeds by covering part of the soil next to the seedlings, Tsai said.
The station plans to promote the trays to farmers in Yilan and Hualien counties first, Tsai said, estimating that 200,000 trays would be used in the first year.
Since the station signed a memorandum of understanding with the company in October last year, station researchers have been testing with different forms to find the best shape for the trays, said COA Department of Farmers’ Service Director-General Malinda Fan (范美玲), a former station director who was promoted to her current post in July.
About 4,000 pulp trays would be needed to plant a field measuring 1 fen (分, 970m2), station assistant researcher Lin Wen-hwa (林文華) said.
While each pulp tray costs NT$20 — more expensive than a plastic tray that costs NT$7 to NT$10 — the price can be reduced when the trays enter mass production, Lin added.
Hualien-based vegetable farmer Liao Chung-hao (廖中豪) told the news conference that he has purchased 10,000 trays and used them for two months, with half of the expenses subsidized by the council.
“They have nearly no shortcomings at all,” as they help boost soil fertility, restrict weeds and save time in planting seeds, Liao said of the pulp trays.
Many of the farmers he knows have not adopted the trays and are still watching him experiment with them, Liao said, expressing the hope that the trays’ price would go down soon.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
RSS