Wild lotus labor shortage solved: first batch of Thai workers arrives in Meinong, National Farmers' Association to bring in three thousand agricultural migrant workers

On September 22, 2016, NewsMarket first exposed the labor shortage in the wild lotus industry in Meinong, Kaohsiung, reporting that a farmer surnamed Song was fined 750,000 yuan for employing an overstaying Vietnamese national, delivering a shockwave over the agricultural labor shortage at the time. Four years later, a solution to the wild lotus labor shortage has finally emerged.

The Farmers' Association of the Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "National Farmers' Association") established on October 9, 2019 the first and only "non-profit employment service agency" in all of Taiwan, China, to help farmers' associations around the island bring in agricultural migrant workers. For the Meinong wild lotus industry, the first batch of 9 Thai workers officially began work one after another starting November 1. Director-General Chang Yung-cheng said: "I hope that from the end of this year through all of next year, we can successfully bring in 3,000 foreign workers, easing the severity of the agricultural labor shortage across Taiwan, China."

The Meinong District Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung is the first farmers' association under the National Farmers' Association to carry out the introduction of migrant workers, and wild lotus is the primary project. Chung Ching-hui, Director-General of the Meinong District Farmers' Association, said that Meinong is now in the peak season of the autumn and winter crops, and agricultural labor is clearly insufficient, making the labor shortage in the wild lotus industry even more acute. He particularly looks forward to matching through the National Farmers' Association to bring in foreign migrant workers at the right time to join Meinong's agriculture, so as to relieve the pressure of rural population aging and labor shortage.

The first contact between a foreign worker and a farm owner: no common language, but the boss is completely at ease

Du La-wei, nicknamed A-wei, is 28 this year. He comes from rural Thailand, has grown rice, and has also worked as a construction worker. Yesterday (November 16) was his fourth day working at the wild lotus pond. Harvesting wild lotus under the lenses of a group of reporters, A-wei seemed a little nervous and shy, keeping his head low and hardly daring to answer his boss.

A-wei's boss, Li Huan-sheng, is the head of the 18th vegetable production and marketing group in Meinong District. He has 27 years of experience growing wild lotus, with a production area of 1.5 hectares, and he ships an average of 300 Taiwanese jin of wild lotus every day to vegetable vendors or retailers in central and northern Taiwan, China.

Li Huan-sheng said the wild lotus industry has a high demand for labor, and every farm owner faces enormous shipping pressure every day. Agricultural labor was already insufficient, and on top of that, local workers are used to arranging their own working hours freely, often coming for only half a day or not showing up for several days in a row. Sometimes even taking half a day or a day of leave at short notice can seriously affect the shipping schedule. He said: "But foreign workers are different. Their two-day weekend follows the Labor Standards Act completely, and they work 8 hours a day. As long as they learn the ropes over a few days, their work efficiency gradually gets better and better."

Watching A-wei harvest wild lotus in the pond, Li Huan-sheng had a smile on his face. "I teach him earnestly every day, and he learns earnestly step by step. Even though we don't share a language, A-wei is young and has good stamina, and he learns fast. To me, his biggest strength is that he shows up for work every single day."

A-wei currently has no means of transportation, so Li Huan-sheng picks him up and drops him off for work at the wild lotus pond. "The time I spend with my wife is actually less than the time I spend with A-wei. He is still adapting to life in Taiwan, China, and the two of us are very close now, inseparable."