Red quinoa and chili peppers help young people in the Pingtung Lily Tribe rebuild their industry
Xie Zhenchang, founder of Kekegu (Colagu) and contract partner with the Baihe tribe for red quinoa, provides the tribe with considerable assistance in production techniques. According to Xie Zhenchang, large-scale red quinoa cultivation fears the beet armyworm moth (Spodoptera litura) most of all; as long as adult moths lay eggs on the underside of red quinoa leaves, several hundred eggs hatch into small larvae that begin eating leaf tissue everywhere, greatly affecting the red quinoa harvest.
Because they emphasize pesticide-free friendly farming practices, Xie Zhenchang suggested the tribe use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to deal with the beet armyworm moth. He explained, "Bt is not a pesticide but an entomopathogenic bacterium; sprayed on the leaves, the moths eat it and die of diarrhea." However, Xie Zhenchang found that there was nowhere near Xinling Gengdi (Spiritual Farmland) selling Bt, so he bought a whole batch of Bt directly in downtown Pingtung and kept it at the tribe for the people to use.
After the pest and disease problems were solved, this year the tribe's red quinoa production increased greatly, with an estimated harvest of 3,000 kg. The tribe's red quinoa is contract-farmed with Kekegu at a purchase price of 130 yuan per kg, with a stable sales channel. However, recently demand in the red quinoa market has been high, and many middlemen go directly into the tribe to make offers to farmer friends, hoping to buy red quinoa at a higher price.
Production-and-marketing group leader Ko Hsin-hsiung says: "The production-and-marketing group does not recommend that members sell to other middlemen at a higher price, because other middlemen do not guarantee long-term, large-volume purchasing. From the standpoint of the production-and-marketing group, we still hope to continue cooperating with Kekegu; Kekegu has processing technology and sales channels and can purchase the tribe's red quinoa in large quantities."
But Ko Hsin-hsiung also mentioned that he hopes Kekegu, besides purchasing red quinoa, can also help the production-and-marketing group learn techniques for threshing, sorting and packaging red quinoa.
The tribe's industrial rebuilding depends on the people working together
In August this year, Xinling Gengdi will begin paying rent, also forcing the production-and-marketing group to calculate more carefully. Ko Hsin-hsiung says: "In the first two years the farmland did not need rent; this year we have to start paying. We hope the county government can pay part of the rent, but even if we have to pay it is all right, users pay, and only with pressure will there be growth."
The production-and-marketing group's chili peppers, red quinoa and vegetables all use land-friendly farming practices, and now they are dealing one by one with issues such as production and marketing links and farmland rent. Ko Hsin-hsiung says that in the past few years the rebuilding work relied on the help of many people; after the production-and-marketing group was established this year, "the tribe's industrial rebuilding still depends most on ourselves."
Five years since the disaster, Ko Hsin-hsiung has stayed in the tribe the whole time, from one of the four heroes of Jiamu, to youth association chairman, to production-and-marketing group leader. He says: "I never consider myself to be anything; those are all outside labels. I came back to prove one thing: young people staying in the tribe can not only take care of their families, but can also create job opportunities!"
Chili sauce and Ko Hsin-hsiung's contact information: Phone: 0928-183665. If the phone does not connect, he may be busy in the fields or in the mountains; please contact Ko Hsin-hsiung's Facebook, please click here
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(This article was sponsored by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel funding, but it completely does not interfere with news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring news independence.)