Labor Shortage in Agriculture Hides Opportunity: Flight Attendant and NTU Biochemistry Master Switch Careers to Become Agricultural Mentors

The "Agricultural Technical Corps" targets high-value agriculture, and its prospects look promising: with salary plus bonuses, monthly pay can reach 50,000, attracting many young people determined to go into farming. In June the number of applicants reached 581, of whom 240 were finally accepted; they will go to work on actual farms, in the hope of easing labor shortages in orchards growing sugar apple, top-grafted pear, grape, pomelo, wax apple, mango and jujube.

Liu Chih-fu, who graduated four years ago from the Graduate Institute of Biochemical Sciences and Molecular Biology at National Taiwan University, originally did research at a pharmaceutical company but left to apply as an "agricultural mentor". Liu believes that compared with a pharmaceutical company, the future of agriculture is more worth looking forward to. He said, "The average age of farmers is in their 60s, and there is a severe shortage of people. Where there are no people, there may be opportunity." He plans to first work and learn on other farms, and in the future may apply what he learns to agricultural improvement, or start his own business directly.

Setting aside medicine to go into farming, Liu Chih-fu does not feel any regret; his only worry is that he may not find a girlfriend when he returns to the countryside, "afraid that getting married will be more difficult".