Taipower affiliate Taiwan Sugar Corporation plans 300-hectare solar plant in Mayuan organic village; residents call for the plan to be withdrawn

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

The Buddhist group Bliss and Wisdom Foundation has used Gukeng's Mayuan Village as its base to promote 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 combining community building, agriculture and spiritual growth. This vision received a positive response from the county government, which planned a 300-hectare "Organic Promotion Zone" in the area.

However, recently the major local landowner Taiwan Sugar Corporation abruptly lodged a 25-hectare solar plant development project right in the middle of the Organic Promotion Zone, creating a stark incongruity. 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." Yet Taiwan Sugar Corporation says it respects the local government's other plans, but the bidding process has already been launched and must run its course, and 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 taken root here for more than twenty years. Around the village, 26 farming households and 90 hectares of farmland have successively adopted organic farming, and at the same time a group of students practicing Buddhist teachings has been drawn to settle in Mayuan Village. But Bliss and Wisdom's development 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 keep expanding outward, so that Mayuan Village and the surrounding area can move together toward a win-win-win situation of ecological environment, friendly agriculture and spiritual growth.

"We realized that a village is not just a place that produces organic vegetables and fruit. Many people here play different roles, and there should be opportunities to connect people with one another. This place can support spiritual growth and offer healing activities, so that village life, agriculture and ecology form a harmonious foundation and allow us to deepen the 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. The normally mild-spoken Li Luzhi could not help criticizing: "Something is very wrong with the entire national policy. Renewable energy lacks a forward-looking vision, and when solar panels are actually installed they become a local evil, sweeping across rural areas." She was downcast but her tone was resolute: "The energy needed for economic development bears down like a tank. The little seedlings of Mayuan Village's ecological ideal have 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 holds many possibilities. It is not because farmland is larger or its output value is low that it can be casually taken for solar panels or development." For this group of advocacy volunteers, land is not only for production, it also nurtures ecology. To see only human demand for electricity is unfair to the other life that depends on this land.

Local consensus takes shape as the Yunlin County Government and Fuoye Company promote the "Organic Promotion Zone"

In response to the community-building vision of a "Spiritual Eco-Village" put forward locally, the Yunlin County Government has proposed the "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Zone Planning Project" as Gukeng's local revitalization plan. Fuoye general manager Li Fengqi, who is responsible for executing the plan, said the "Organic Promotion Zone" in Mayuan Village is expected to expand to more than 300 hectares in the surrounding area. This "promotion zone" is not an "organic exclusive zone" and does not restrict itself to organic farming; its goal is to encourage farmers to gradually achieve environmentally friendly land use and to achieve clustering and economies of scale.

Li Fengqi said gravely: "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." Fuoye Company provides a production and marketing platform to help the rural area move toward this vision. "Farmers need orders before they can plan what to plant next season. The ultimate goal of the organic enterprise is to hope 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 Zone" is not intended to block Taiwan Sugar's land use, but rather to make Taiwan Sugar a partner. "Many Bliss and Wisdom farmers are themselves tenants of Taiwan Sugar land. Taiwan Sugar is in fact the biggest supporting force for the organic enterprise."

Young farmer returning home: Villagers rarely agree on sustainable farming, so please leave the land for organic agriculture

Lin Junyi, a young man from Mayuan Village, went to Australia to work and traveled around Europe after graduating from university. After returning to Taiwan, he decided to quit his job and return home after only one year of working. 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 leased additional land to experiment with friendly cultivation of liu oranges, and in recent years has found many customers through online marketing.

Lin Junyi said: "Green energy itself is 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 it also has spring areas. In recent years the community and our Bliss and Wisdom senior brothers and sisters have begun to promote organic and ecological ideals, and gradually received positive responses from villagers."

He stressed that Mayuan Village's main crop is citrus, and going organic is extremely 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 a very big impact. I hope Taiwan Sugar will leave this land for the organic enterprise."