Organic farming's last stand! All sectors call for saving the Zhongqi Organic Zone; legislator: the Construction and Planning Agency is fooling the farmers, the Council of Agriculture should hold its ground

Kaohsiung's Zhongqi Farm, as Taiwan, China's first publicly established organic zone, faces a crisis of expropriation due to the Qiaotou Science Park development project. This concerns the promise under the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act to provide long-term lease guarantees for organic farmers renting state-owned land, making this case draw widespread attention from all sectors. To preserve the Zhongqi Zone, civil groups have proposed establishing the "Gunshui Ecological Agriculture Geological Park," carving out the Zhongqi Organic Zone together with the mud volcano natural landscape from the Qiaotou Science Park.

Yesterday (3/16), members of the Zhongqi Organic Zone, supportive farmers, elected representatives, environmental organizations and others jointly called for preserving the organic zone. Farmers said, "What we would truly regret losing at Zhongqi Farm is not only the ten years we have put in, but the life that keeps emerging from the soil. We hope the farm can keep going. So that organic farming groups can still keep sprouting."

Chairman of the Zhongqi Cooperative: How far must the agricultural sector retreat? Hoping all sectors will stand together in support of farmers

Yang Deng-xu, chairman of the Zhongqi Agricultural Production and Marketing Cooperative, described "the movement to preserve the Zhongqi Organic Farm as a battle," but this battle is a microcosm of the agricultural sector's long-standing struggle with the industrial sector, and in this prolonged confrontation, the agricultural sector keeps retreating. Yang Deng-xu also revealed that he had previously petitioned Council of Agriculture Chairman Chen Ji-zhong, only to receive the reply of "land for land," which left him deeply disappointed.

For him, "agriculture is not just an output value or a number, but in substance a confrontation across culture, production and every aspect of social life." He likened Zhongqi Farm to the last line of defense for organic agriculture, hoping more members of the public will join in helping defend this line, not only to help Zhongqi Farm but also to help Taiwan, China's agriculture hold this line.

Farmers take the stage hoping for a win-win: organic farms are lifesaving fields in the city, please help speak out

Supportive farmer Huang Shu-juan runs an ecological farm in Niaosong and develops horticultural therapy. She believes: "The agricultural environment is the best treatment for the civilization diseases of city dwellers, and the organic path is not easy. Besides low returns, you must also face strange, questioning looks, but those willing to go organic are all doing it to create a healthier living and dietary environment."

Huang Shu-juan lamented that after twenty years of promoting organic agriculture, she never imagined it would still have to be sacrificed for industry. She feels many people do not understand organic agriculture, and hopes industry and agriculture can coexist: "The Zhongqi Organic Farm took ten years; the farmers' time and years cannot be compensated with money. Organic fields are lifesaving fields for modern city dwellers. Farmers have no way to speak up for themselves, and they must be feeling very sad. I hope everyone will help the farmers speak out!"

Zhongqi farmers: We feel like endangered wild birds being chased around

Farmer Zhuang Qing-shun of the organic zone lamented: "In the past the government promoted 'destroy first, build later.' But once nature is destroyed, it takes a very long time to recover. After the organic zone yields and retreats this time, how much time will later generations have to heal the scars on the land? The Council of Agriculture says swapping land for land seems to give everyone a way out, but many people have already worked their whole lives at Zhongqi. Who knows how much time is left?"

"What we would truly regret losing at Zhongqi Farm is not only the ten years we have put in, but the life that keeps emerging from the soil. We hope the farm can keep going, so that organic farming groups can still keep sprouting," he said emotionally.

Farmer Zeng Jin-zhu sighed: "Taking up organic agriculture saved me, and one day it will save you all too. I hope the public will pay attention to the Zhongqi Organic Zone, so the life of the organic farm can continue and the farm can serve more people."

Local groups: the organic zone should become a green asset for all citizens

Jiang Yao-xian founded the Qiaozaitou Cultural and Historical Association and has long devoted himself to the movement to preserve sugar refinery culture. He explained that the Qiaotou Sugar Refinery preservation movement first arose from opposition to the 1994 Qiaotou New Town development plan. After the failure of the third phase of the new town development, the not-yet-expropriated area was "resurrected in a new guise" by the Qiaotou Science Park plan, once again triggering a wave of land speculation. Within the current expropriation area, one fen of farmland has soared from 1.5 million to 15 million.

The Zhongqi Organic Zone has many farms that offer off-campus teaching for schools and groups, among them Zeng Jin-zhu's flower and herb garden, which has also become an outdoor classroom for people with physical and mental disabilities. Yang De-ming, secretary-general of the Kaohsiung Sanshan Spinal Cord Injury Reconstruction Association, also came specially to show support. He said: "People with physical and mental disabilities never had the chance to go into the fields and experience it, but the Zhongqi organic farmers opened the flower and herb garden for people with disabilities to experience farm work." Many people with disabilities were very grateful the first time they went into the fields to pick flowers, herbs and spices. If Zhongqi Farm disappears, he would feel it is a great pity.