Taiwanese oil millet, an endemic plant species, could be a superfood, providing high nutritional value to humans and livestock, Academia Sinica researcher Hsing Yue-ie (邢禹依) said yesterday.
Eccoilopus formosanus is extremely resilient, able to survive droughts, colds and salinized soil, said Hsing, who is also a professor of agronomy at National Taiwan University.
It is easier to grow than most major high-yield crops — such as rice, wheat, corn, cassava or sorghum — the production of which is reliant on heavy irrigation, herbicides and fertilization, but Taiwanese oil millet does not require that much effort, she said.
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
Some bed-and-breakfast owners in Taitung participating in her research used the plant and yeast used by Aboriginal cultures to make bread and bagels, which were widely favored by guests, she said.
Chiu Kuei-chun (邱貴春), a farmer who has grown Taiwanese oil millet for five years, said that the plant looks similar to wheat.
Bunun Aborigines mix it with crops such as quinoa, millet and rice, Chiu said.
It is a perennial crop that can yield three harvests per year, with each harvest lasting about a week, he said.
Despite its resilience, the plant can fall victim to birds, Chiu said, citing the first harvest of the crop on his farm this year.
Sparrows feeding on the plant resulted in an extremely low yield, he said.
Weeds are another risk factor, as young plants cannot compete with them, which makes weeding necessary, he said.
Hsing said that her research team is conducting extensive research on the plant in the hope that its special qualities could allow more applications.
For example, the team is developing a sunscreen based on the plant’s tolerance for salt, she said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS