Rural Vision Season 2 Episode 05: How Did Chishang Rice Become the LV of the Rice World?

Text / Baohua Communication Planning & Execution: Chen Yuling

The broadcast of the "Rural Vision" documentary series has reached its final episode. Starting from Japan in 2015, we visited Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia and the United States along the way. After filming several foreign cases, we began to look back at Taiwan, somewhat nervously wondering whether Taiwan could also offer a good model. After considering whether to balance east, west, north and south, whether to feature large farms, small farms or young farmers, and whether the cases had a sufficiently high vision and were sustainable enough…… after consulting all around Taiwan, we finally decided to settle on "Chishang", a place that really no longer needs any advertising from us.

In 2016, we went "undercover" at the Chishang second-crop rice township competition, and struck up conversations with several farmers who "had no idea what we were doing there". These farmers ranged in age from their 30s to nearly 60, farmed areas from 3 jia to 17 jia, and used methods from conventional and organic to natural farming. Over nearly 30 shooting days of documentation, we tried, by taking part in one season's rice-planting process, to experience from the perspectives of production, sales and institutions why the people of Chishang are increasingly proud of their hometown.

Chishang Rice, Forever Taking "In-Service Training"

How did Chishang rice cultivate itself into the "LV of the rice world"? Chishang rice farmers' more than 20 years of continuous "in-service training" is the key.

Starting in the 1990s, to encourage improvements in rice quality, the Chishang Township Office, the farmers' association and the rice mills held various training courses for Chishang farmers to take part in. They also commissioned academia to bring in the corporate concept of "standard operating procedures", hoping to put it into practice in farmers' field management techniques. They defined a standard production process: when farmers transplant rice seedlings, when they weed, when they spray and fertilize, and how much pesticide and fertilizer they use all had to be recorded in detail.

Next, in response to the impact brought by the WTO and to raise the competitiveness of Chishang farmers, Chishang began cooperating with MOA in 1994 and started introducing and learning organic farming, laying a good foundation for the later organic rice zone and the concept of sustainable land use.

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