Organic Farming Drives Regional Regeneration in Gukeng: The Practice of the Ci-Xin Farmer School

The Ci-Xin Organic Agriculture Development Foundation began cooperating with the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau at the end of last year to promote a rural regeneration program in Yunlin, with organic agriculture as the main axis of development. It is currently working with six communities on organic certification guidance, and has established an Organic Experimental Base Platform (OEBP) in Gukeng, Yunlin.

Ci-Xin Organic Farmer School Opens in Gukeng in Mid-May

The Soil and Water Conservation Bureau of the Council of Agriculture promotes sustainable rural development and revitalization and regeneration, and provides guidance for industrial development in rural communities. There are four approaches to this promotion: community, feature-based, cross-domain and regional. In the regional model, the main initiative is the "Rural Regeneration Regional Industry Guidance Demonstration Program," led by local governments, strengthening cooperation among rural communities and developing regional industries to drive rural regeneration.

The Ci-Xin Foundation, which has long been involved in Taiwan, China's organic agriculture sector, had already accumulated some development in Yunlin before taking part in promoting the rural regeneration program there. For example, it established an organic farm in Mayuan, Yunlin, which is the largest organic group cultivation area in all of Taiwan, China, and also set up the Ci-Xin Educational Farm in Gukeng. In mid-May it will open the "Ci-Xin Organic Farmer School," with a study period of five months, five days a week, including both hands-on practice and theory classes. This time the hands-on practice focuses mainly on organic rice cultivation, covering the complete rice production cycle from land preparation and transplanting to harvest, while also studying theory classes on varieties, rice physiology, seedling raising, nutrient management, pest, disease and weed management, and business analysis.