Hsinchu County Signs the "Friendly Farming and Honest Agriculture" Strategic Alliance

On January 16, the Hsinchu County Xinpu Township Office invited representatives from industry, government, academia and research in the agricultural field to sign the "Friendly Farming and Honest Agriculture" strategic alliance memorandum of cooperation at the Xinpu Township Visitor Center, announcing that farmers in Xinpu Township will, under the joint professional guidance of all invited parties, engage in land-friendly farming, restore the vitality of the land, make produce naturally safe, give farmers security, and give consumers peace of mind, creating a vision for the development of friendly agriculture in Xinpu.

Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke also attended the event and stated that after taking office he fulfilled his campaign promise to officially begin, from September 2019, promoting the use of locally grown organic vegetables in the nutritious lunches of 120 elementary and junior high schools under Hsinchu County, with the initial plan being to promote it by using local organic vegetables twice a week, supplying 10 tonnes of local organic vegetables per week and 400 tonnes over one year. He also expressed hope that the strategic alliance can help build a sustainable development of friendly-environment agriculture in Hsinchu County.

Qiu Shih-chang, Director of the Hsinchu County Agriculture Department, stated that schools will be matched to sign supply contracts directly with local organic farmers or the Hsinchu County local organic vegetable supply platform, so that schoolchildren can eat healthily while also creating a sustainable and friendly crop production environment.

Township Mayor Lin Pao-lu stated that Japanese buyers, who are highly demanding about quality, came to Taiwan last year to look for rice, and as a result Xinpu rice passed 406 tests and was selected to be exported to Japan, which is also one of the reasons for holding this press conference. Township Mayor Lin Pao-lu expressed the hope that after the establishment of the strategic alliance, farming experience will be rapidly accumulated, the farming area expanded, and the economic value of production increased, using honest agriculture as the starting point to capture the hearts of consumers.

At the press conference, County Councillors Chen Hsin-yuan and Du Wen-chung, former Hsinchu County Magistrate Lin Kuang-hua, former County Councillor Kao Wei-kai, and several representatives and village chiefs from Xinpu Township also attended and showed their support.