Taiwan Sugar's 300-hectare Photovoltaic Project in Mayuan Organic Village: A Spiritual Blessed Land Under Threat, Residents Call for Withdrawal

Photovoltaics are 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 photovoltaics would face stricter screening, but recently Taiwan Sugar has again sought to release a large area of farmland for solar panels, and the location sits 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 that combines community building, agriculture, and spiritual growth. This vision received a positive response from the county government, which planned a 300-hectare "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Park" in the area.

However, recently the area's major landowner, Taiwan Sugar Corporation, abruptly inserted a 25-hectare photovoltaic plant development project right in the middle of the organic promotion zone, making it highly out of place. 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 photovoltaic plants." Yet Taiwan Sugar Corporation stated that it respects the local government's other plans, but the bidding process has already been launched and must be completed, while both the county government and the Council of Agriculture have the power to reject the case.

The "Spiritual Eco-Village" Plan Links Life, Ecology, and Agriculture, but Is Thrown into Disarray by Photovoltaics

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, gradually promoting organic agriculture around the Bliss and Wisdom campus. At present, about 90 hectares of Taiwan Sugar land is leased for organic farming, and it has also attracted a group of students practicing Buddhism to settle in Mayuan Village. But in the past, the campus was not sufficiently integrated with the surrounding 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 countryside is not just a place for producing agricultural products, but also a place imbued with local culture and human character. Rural areas should have the opportunity to connect people with one another. The countryside can support spiritual growth and provide healing activities, allowing life, agriculture, and ecology to form a coordinated foundation, and letting us deeply experience the relationship between people and the environment," Li Luzhi explained.

Just as this vision is being realized, Taiwan Sugar decided to develop photovoltaics here. The mild-spoken Li Luzhi could not help but criticize: "There is a huge problem with the entire national policy. Renewable energy lacks a forward-looking vision, and when solar panels are implemented, they become a local evil sweeping across the countryside." She felt low but spoke with determination: "The energy needed for economic development seems to roll over everything like a tank. The small 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 holds many possibilities. It is not because farmland is larger or has low output value that it can be arbitrarily 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 electricity demand is considered, that is unfair to the other life that depends on this land.

Local Consensus Takes Shape as Yunlin County Government and Fuye Company Promote the "Organic Promotion Zone"

In response to the local community-building vision of a "Spiritual Eco-Village," the Yunlin County Government has proposed the "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Zone" plan as Gukeng's local revitalization project. Li Fengqi, general manager of Fuye, which is responsible for executing the plan, said that the "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Park" in Mayuan Village is expected to expand to more than 300 hectares in the surrounding area. This plan focuses on the concept of an "organic promotion zone" rather than an "organic exclusive zone," does not limit itself to organic farming, and aims to encourage farmers to gradually realize environmentally friendly land use and achieve clustering and economies of scale.

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

Li Fengqi emphasized that the ideal of the "Gukeng Township Mayuan Organic Agriculture Park" is not intended to block Taiwan Sugar's land use, but rather to hope that Taiwan Sugar will become a 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 business."

Returning Young Farmer: It Is Rare for Villagers to Endorse Sustainable Farming, Please Leave the Land for Organic Agriculture

Lin Junyi, a young man from Mayuan Village, once went to Australia for work and traveled around Europe after graduating from university. After returning to Taiwan, he decided to resign and return home after only one year of work. 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 land, experimenting with friendly cultivation of liu-ding oranges, and in recent years has found many customers through online marketing.

Lin Junyi said, "Green energy itself is good, but building photovoltaics in Mayuan Village seems to lack site selection planning and disturbs both the landscape and the ecology. Mayuan Village is the hometown of the farmerson's tree frog, and it also has spring areas. In recent years, the community and Bliss and Wisdom senior fellow students have begun promoting organic and ecological ideals, and gradually the villagers have responded positively."

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