Signing and Unveiling of the Southern Taiwan Cross-Disciplinary Technology Innovation Center

To assist the sustainable development of agriculture in southern Taiwan, the Pingtung County Government, the Kaohsiung City Government, ITRI, and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology jointly established the "Southern Taiwan Cross-Disciplinary Technology Innovation Center." On the morning of the 18th, a signing and unveiling ceremony was held at the College of Agriculture of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology. Pingtung County Magistrate Pan Meng-an, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, ITRI Vice President Liu Chun-ting, NPUST Vice President Hsieh Pao-chuan, and College of Agriculture Dean Wu Ming-chang all attended as representatives. ITRI will work together with the Pingtung County Government and the Kaohsiung City Government to inject innovative technology into the agricultural industry through cross-school, cross-county and city, cross-disciplinary, and industrial applications, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural industry.

This cooperation will focus on combining agriculture with technology. Through industry-government-academia collaboration, it aims to make agricultural production ecological, environmentally friendly, and technology-driven. Drawing on ITRI's technical expertise, it will attempt to apply the highly mature industrial low-temperature plasma technology to the production and management side of vegetables and fruits, in order to develop precision agriculture.

Regarding this cross-disciplinary cooperation, Pingtung County Magistrate Pan Meng-an first expressed gratitude to ITRI for coming south to provide guidance, as well as to Mayor Chen Chu, NPUST, and other units for their support. Through this southward leap and the efforts of College of Agriculture Dean Wu of NPUST in bringing the parties together, a foundation has been laid for technological agriculture in Pingtung, which can then be applied to related industries such as healthcare and manufacturing, leading southern Taiwan toward the next stage of upgrading.

ITRI Vice President Liu Chun-ting further pointed out that National Pingtung University of Science and Technology has now been selected as the second research base, using room-temperature plasma technology to assist with plant sterilization and growth promotion, food processing and equipment technology, and so on, to develop precision agriculture. Now, with the assistance of College of Agriculture Dean Wu Ming-chang of NPUST, atmospheric plasma is certain to produce concrete and in-depth results, leading our country's agriculture to a successful transformation.