Taiwan Sugar plans to develop a 300-hectare solar plant; residents of an organic village call for the project to be withdrawn

Solar power is once again about to encroach on farmland, and this time the target is the organic village in Gukeng, Yunlin! In July, the Council of Agriculture announced that farmland solar projects would face stricter scrutiny, but recently Taiwan Sugar has once again sought to release a large area of farmland for solar panels, and the location is right in the middle of the Mayuan Organic Promotion Area in Gukeng, triggering strong opposition from the community and the local government.

The Buddhist group Bliss and Wisdom Foundation has used Mayuan Village in Gukeng as its base and has promoted ecological conservation and environmental sustainability for twenty years. Starting last year, a group of enthusiastic Bliss and Wisdom students and local residents launched the "Spiritual Eco-Village" initiative, proposing a rural vision that combines community building, agriculture and spiritual growth. This vision received a positive response from the county government, which planned a 300-hectare "Organic Promotion Area" in the area.

What is jarring, however, is that recently the major local landowner Taiwan Sugar Corporation abruptly inserted a 25-hectare solar plant development project right inside the Organic Promotion Area, making it stand out incongruously. Local residents and Bliss and Wisdom volunteers hope Taiwan Sugar will voluntarily withdraw the project, and the county government also believes that "Gukeng Township does not lack solar plants." However, Taiwan Sugar Corporation said it respects the local government's other plans, but the bidding process has already begun and must be completed, while both the county government and the Council of Agriculture have the power to reject the project.

The "Spiritual Eco-Village" plan links life, ecology and agriculture, but solar power has thrown it into disarray

Architect Li Luzhi, one of the dreamers behind the "Spiritual Eco-Village," explained its origins: "Bliss and Wisdom has been rooted here for more than twenty years. Around the village, 26 farming households and 90 hectares of farmland have successively practiced organic farming, and at the same time a group of students studying Buddhism has been drawn to settle in Mayuan Village. However, the development of Bliss and Wisdom has never been sufficiently integrated with the rural community." The concept of the "Spiritual Eco-Village" is to use the existing scale as its core and continue expanding outward, so that Mayuan Village and the surrounding areas can move together toward a win-win-win situation of ecological environment, friendly agriculture and spiritual growth.

"We realized that the village is not just a place for producing organic fruits and vegetables. Many people here play different roles, and there should be an opportunity to connect people with one another. This place can support spiritual growth and provide healing activities, allowing the village's life, agriculture and ecology to form a coordinated foundation and enabling us to deepen discussion of the relationship between people and the environment," Li Luzhi explained.

Just as this vision was being realized, Taiwan Sugar decided to develop solar power here, and the mild-mannered Li Luzhi could not help criticizing it: "There is a major problem with the entire national policy. Renewable energy lacks a forward-looking vision, and when solar panels are actually implemented they become a local evil, sweeping across rural areas." She was downcast but firm in tone: "The energy needed for economic development presses forward like a tank. The young seedlings of Mayuan Village's ecological ideal have already sprouted, and of course we must find a way to protect them so they are not crushed."

Li Luzhi said heavily, "Besides being relatively cheap, agricultural land also contains many possibilities. It is not because farmland is larger or has low output value that it can be casually used for solar panels or development." For this group of advocacy volunteers, land is not only for production; it also nurtures ecology. If only human demand for electricity is considered, that is unfair to the other life that depends on this land.

Local consensus takes shape as the Yunlin County Government and Fuya Company promote the "Organic Promotion Area"

In response to the community-building vision of a "Spiritual Eco-Village" proposed by local residents, the Yunlin County Government has proposed the "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Area Planning Project" as Gukeng's local revitalization plan. Li Fengqi, general manager of Fuya, which is responsible for executing the plan, said that Mayuan Village's "Organic Promotion Area" is expected to expand to more than 300 hectares in the surrounding area. This "promotion area" is not an "organic zone" and does not require organic farming; its goal is to encourage farmers to gradually realize environmentally friendly land use and achieve clustering and scale effects.

Li Fengqi said seriously, "This is a local vision formed through the joint efforts of Mayuan Village residents, farmers and many Bliss and Wisdom students after more than ten years of adjustment." Fuya Company provides a production and marketing platform to help the rural area move toward this vision. "Farmers need orders so they can plan in advance what to plant next season. The ultimate goal of the organic enterprise is to hope that farmers can do well and the environment can do well too, ultimately achieving a balance between people and nature."

Li Fengqi stressed that the ideal of the "Organic Promotion Area" is not intended to block Taiwan Sugar's land use, but rather to hope that Taiwan Sugar will become a cooperative partner. "Many Bliss and Wisdom farmers are themselves tenants of Taiwan Sugar land. Taiwan Sugar is in fact the greatest supporting force for the organic enterprise."

A young farmer returning home: It is rare for villagers to endorse sustainable farming, so the land should be left for organic agriculture

Lin Junyi, a young man from Mayuan Village, once went to Australia to work and traveled around Europe after graduating from university. After returning to Taiwan, he decided to quit his job after only one year and return to his hometown. Having tasted freedom, he decided to return to the land of his hometown to seek an ideal life. He took over his family's orchard and rented land, experimenting with friendly cultivation of liuding oranges, and in recent years has found many customers through online marketing.

Lin Junyi said, "Green energy itself is very good, but building solar panels in Mayuan Village seems to lack site planning and disrupts both the landscape and the ecology. Mayuan Village is the hometown of the farmost tree frog and also has spring areas. In recent years, the community and senior Bliss and Wisdom members have begun promoting organic and ecological ideals, and villagers have gradually responded positively."

He stressed that Mayuan Village relies mainly on citrus, and going organic is very difficult, but because Bliss and Wisdom has helped everyone gradually accept the concept of ecological sustainability, villagers have begun to identify with environmentally friendly farming methods. "For Taiwan Sugar, 25 hectares is not large, but for Mayuan Village, 25 hectares is already a very large impact. I hope Taiwan Sugar will leave this land for the organic enterprise."