Thirteen young farmers average over one million in annual income, Kaohsiung Improvement Station's guidance proves successful

The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station under the Council of Agriculture mentored thirteen young farmers, and through the "Seize the Moment to Farm, Pursue Your Dreams in Youth" project, it is expected to double these young farmers' income within two years. The project began last June, and one year on, four young farmers who had previously operated at a loss have turned a profit, and the average annual income of the thirteen young farmers exceeds one million.

Kaohsiung Station Brings in Experts to Assist Young Farmers One-on-One

At present, the competent agricultural authorities have quite a few counseling programs that encourage young people to take up farming. In addition to the "Seize the Moment to Farm, Pursue Your Dreams in Youth" project in which the thirteen young farmers mentored by the Kaohsiung Station participate, there is also the "Swallows Fly South" program promoted by the Pingtung County Government and the "Model Farmer Training Class" promoted by the Kaohsiung City Government.

Yang Wen-chen of the Kaohsiung Station believes that the "Seize the Moment to Farm" program, which the Council of Agriculture began promoting last year, targets second-generation farmers and provides assistance in both production and sales, while Kaohsiung's "Model Farmer Training Class" focuses on marketing channels, and Pingtung's "Swallows Fly South" provides internship venues and living allowances for young farmers, each with a different emphasis.

Young farmer Hung Ming-tsung said that these programs all encourage young people to return home to farm, but each has different considerations for farmers starting from different points. He believes that Swallows Fly South offers better benefits, with participants able to receive up to 360,000 in subsidies, and after actually taking up farming they can also apply for facility subsidies, but they need to go to someone else's farm for an internship, making it suitable for young people with no farming experience and no farmland, while for young people with farming experience and a family farm, the Seize the Moment to Farm program may be more suitable.

As for the assistance these counseling programs provide with marketing channels, Hung Ming-tsung believes this too must be considered in light of young farmers' needs. For example, he said, ordinary channel operators may need a container's worth of volume, which requires farmers with a larger growing area to accommodate, while small farmers with a smaller area need "channels for precision agriculture."

"Only by seeing your own starting point clearly can you choose the young farmer counseling program that suits you," Hung Ming-tsung said.