The Seed Saving in Farming Action Workshop will be held on April 29, and registrations are welcome.

Saving seeds on the farm is not only about agricultural development and the way farmers and food crops are produced,

it is also a life attitude and a philosophy of survival based on cooperation and mutual trust between producers and consumers, and respect for nature.

We sincerely invite you, through concrete participation and action,

to decide your own future and create together a beautiful life of lasting happiness!

"Saving Seeds on the Farm" is a long-term project jointly launched by Hepu‧Taiwan Rice Community together with Isis Aromatherapy Lifestyle Store, the Seed Research Laboratory of the Department of Agronomy at National Taiwan University, Yinchuan Sustainable Farm and Dou Zhi Wei Tofu Workshop, so that consumers and producers, enterprises and farmers cooperate with and support each other, nourishing people and also nourishing the soil, thereby forming and realizing a sustainable food supply system.

The "Saving Seeds on the Farm" project begins with the adoption of two hectares of organic rice paddies, and also plans educational outreach content, rice/soybean rotation, participatory breeding, ecological ditch and irrigation channel restoration, and more; through the rotation of rice and leguminous plants, the root systems of the legumes fix nitrogen and convert it into soil nutrients, restoring the soil fertility lost through cultivation; one part of the educational outreach, the Yinchuan organic rice production area visit, takes corporate employees to experience the hard work of farming life and to understand on site the source and production process of the food they eat, establishing a foundation of mutual trust and reliance between consumers and producers, and from that understanding generating firm support.

Participatory breeding is the ultimate goal of the "Saving Seeds on the Farm" project: to return the rights and professional skills of seed conservation and breeding to farmers, and to cultivate anew varieties suited to the local place and season, not only safeguarding farmers' livelihoods but also restoring agricultural diversity.

Time: April 29, 2012 (Sunday) am 9:00 - 12:00

Venue: Isis Private Bookshelf (No. 7-1, Lane 22, Section 3, Xinsheng South Road, Taipei City02-2362 -1134)

Fee: 300 yuan (includes one copy of the booklet "Saving Seeds on the Farm"; all fees are remitted to the Saving Seeds on the Farm dedicated account to sponsor the use of the Saving Seeds on the Farm association.)

Workshop content:
Why do we need seeds? (Saving Seeds on the Farm partners, film viewing)
Petroleum agriculture & seeds (the Green Revolution): the intensive-care-unit style agriculture you may not know about
Saving Seeds on the Farm action map: the Saving Seeds on the Farm association and website, workshops, entering the valley... feedback and exchange

Speaker: Chen Meng-kai (convener of the Hepu Agroecology Market)

Contact: Tian Li-qing 0988-587596 [email protected]

Upcoming sessions:
5/27 (Sun): Hsinchu Shuimu Shuyuan
6/24 (Sun): Taipei Isis Private Bookshelf