Twenty-three agricultural workers have been approved to use the Australasian Grass Owl-Friendly Label for their agricultural products since the label was launched last year, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Pingtung branch said on Wednesday.
The branch had presented the label to four Kaohsiung-based agricultural workers who recently passed an Australasian grass owl-friendly farming course.
The Australasian Grass Owl-Friendly Label encourages agricultural workers to adopt eco-friendly field management approaches without using rodenticides, animal traps or herbicides, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Chiayi branch
The goal is to minimize the impact of agricultural activities on Australasian grass owls and other ecosystems, it added.
The label has been granted to 23 agricultural workers who cultivate a variety of crops, including lemons, guavas, avocados, pineapples, rambutans, corn, rice and leafy vegetables, it said.
Among the four growers granted the label on Wednesday is Chen Mou-wei (陳謀韋), who operates a 16-hectare avocado orchard near the Nanzihsian River (楠梓仙溪) in Kaohsiung’s Chishan District (旗山), the branch said.
Chen applies his electrical engineering expertise to developing semi-mechanized field management and records his pesticide applications in detail in the traceability system, it said.
Another grower, Chen Tai-sheng (陳?昇), adopts organic farming to grow guavas on the badlands of Kaohsiung’s Tianliao District (田寮), the branch said.
He created a technique of warping the main stem of guava plants around a galvanized steel pipe to help them survive typhoons, as well as using pruned branches to surround guava plant trunks to retain moisture, it said.
Agricultural worker Chien Chun-fa (簡春發), who operates pineapple fields in Kaohsiung’s Dashu District (大樹), insists on not using herbicides or chemical fertilizers, the branch said.
Chien considers wild animals nibbling his fruit as “the rent paid to nature,” it said.
He also set up raptor perches in his fields to attract black-winged kites and crested goshawks, which hunt rats, the branch said.
Replacing pesticides with biological control techniques aligns with the principle of ecological integration, it said.
Lastly, Hung Chi-chin (洪麒欽), uses organic farming to cultivate avocados, mangoes and black persimmons near the Cishan River (旗山溪), the branch said, adding that Hung’s orchards document sightings of Australasian grass owls.
Agricultural workers are indispensable partners in promoting conservation of the critically endangered owls, it said, calling on the public to purchase products with the label to support eco-friendly farming.
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