The government should promote the growth of Taiwanese oil millet, as the perennial grass is highly tolerant to drought and saline soil, sustainable development groups said on Thursday.
The crop is also flood-tolerant, the groups said, adding that rice could be replaced with oil millet during water shortages to help conservation efforts.
The plant used to be a staple of the Bunun people, before vanishing for half a century following the relocation of the Bunun after the 1941 Pasnanavan incident in Taitung County.
Photo: CNA
The Pasnanavan incident refers to a failed attempt by relocated Bunun to return to their mountain homes by attacking police stations of the then-Japanese colonial government.
The incident only steeled the decision of Japanese authorities in the region to complete the relocation of the Bunun of Pasnanavan to the plains.
The plant, which a young Bunun named Chiu Hsiao-cheng (邱曉徵) and his father reintroduced as a crop five years ago, was sent to Academia Sinica for analysis.
The crop was said to have the potential to be a staple, given the effects of climate change.
Moreover, oil millet had survived after being under water for four days during flooding in 2019, Chiu said.
Climate change has affected the distribution of water resources, said Ling Keng-hung (林耿弘), president of Taitung County’s Youth and Elderly Community Co-creation and Environment Protection Association.
With its high concentration of rice paddies, the first crop of each growing season in the upper fields of the Huadong Valley — the area between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range, also known as the Hualien-Taitung Valley (花東縱谷) or the East Rift Valley — could be for growing oil millet or similar crops that have high economic value and do not need as much water, Ling said, adding that this would improve the conservation of water resources.
Huang Tzu-yun (黃子芸), an assistant researcher at the Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, said that the station is studying how to promote oil millet as a crop, as it has high nutritional value and is adaptable to climate change.
Academia Sinica Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology assistant researcher Hsu Tzu-fu (徐子富) said that during the most severe water shortage in half a century last year, oil millet was less affected than other crops that rely on copious amounts of water.
A perennial plant, oil millet can be harvested by scything it above the roots, with no need to reseed, Hsu said, adding that tilling is only required every three years.
Compared with rice paddies or wheat fields, which need to be tilled every 100 to 120 days, and six months respectively, oil millet fields have a much better carbon fixation rate, he said.
“We hope to work with US and Japanese academics and make a proposal to UNESCO to have oil millet considered a world cultural heritage,” he said.
“We hope that Taiwan could contribute, in some form, to help resolve potential global food supply crises,” he said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS