International students praise Taiwan’s horticulture

To deepen the understanding of the diverse values of agriculture among the new generation of international youth in Taiwan

The Ministry of Agriculture successfully organized a series of five events titled “Linking Taiwan’s Agriculture to New Areas” from November 4 to December 2, 2023. These events aimed to deepen the understanding of the diverse values of agriculture among the new generation of international youth in Taiwan. The events attracted over a hundred elite students from diverse disciplines and agricultural backgrounds from 11 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Singapore. The students had the opportunity to visit 11 high-quality agricultural enterprises in Taiwan, which received high acclaim for their contribution to sustainable agriculture.

Aim of the Events

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) stated that the series of events aimed to inspire the younger generation’s passion for agriculture, cultivate their sense of participation in the sustainable development of regional agriculture, and open up new career development perspectives. Through on-site visits to industries with cooperative potential, the events injected feasible business models for collaboration between the students’ home countries and Taiwan. The aim was to prompt the students to contemplate how to leverage their abilities in the future and work in cooperation with Taiwan to collectively devote effort to sustainability and innovation in regional agriculture.

Participants and Learning Opportunities

The participating students included individuals studying fields related to agriculture as well as graduate and undergraduate students from disciplines such as electrical engineering, supply chain management, civil engineering, biotechnology, cosmetology, business administration, and finance. These students are mainly elite individuals with family backgrounds in industry, government, academia, or agribusiness in their home countries. They have been sent to Taiwan for advanced study and will play a crucial role in promoting the internationalization of products and services from Taiwan, as well as act as critical “seeds” for sustainable regional agricultural development.

During the events, the students had the opportunity to visit businesses in various industries, including outsourced agricultural machinery, vertical farming, floriculture, applied green energy, and agricultural information services. They also had discussions with Young Agricultural Ambassadors and experts from Taiwan. Through these interactions, the students gained a deep understanding of the practical development of agricultural technology in Taiwan and its application by businesses. They admired Taiwan’s agricultural enterprises for their use of smart monitoring to improve yield, expanding farmer cooperatives to promote brand management, using VR to experience agricultural machinery sharing and leasing models, and achieving precise improvements in agricultural product quality through research results. The students were also impressed by the information services and technological applications facilitating the coexistence of agriculture and green energy.

Impact and Future Collaborations

The events had a significant impact on the participating students. For example, a Filipino electrical engineering doctoral student focused on Taiwan’s use of hyperspectral sensors to detect issues with sweet potatoes and pests. He plans to collaborate with Taiwan on various projects to develop new agricultural technologies suitable for his country. Similarly, a Vietnamese horticulture master’s student envisions future collaboration with Taiwan to develop remote production models. Additionally, a Nepalese engineering doctoral student recognized the importance of automation in reducing labor in agriculture and hopes to apply this concept in his home country to promote economic development while establishing closer international agricultural cooperation for the future.

These activities not only brought Taiwan and these international students closer together but also enabled the 11 participating agribusinesses to engage in two-way exchanges with the students, gaining non-agricultural points of view that will be helpful for industrial innovation. The participation of these multi-disciplinary student “seeds” will also assist Taiwan agriculture in combining with different lifestyles and experiences, enabling agriculture to develop in even more directions.

Source: eng.moa.gov.tw

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators in the Article

1. SDGs Addressed or Connected to the Issues Highlighted in the Article

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The article discusses the series of events organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in Taiwan to deepen the understanding of agriculture among international youth. The events aimed to inspire passion for agriculture, promote sustainable development, and explore career development perspectives. These objectives align with the SDGs mentioned above.

2. Specific Targets Under Those SDGs Based on the Article’s Content

• SDG 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
• SDG 8.6: By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
• SDG 9.5: Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending.
• SDG 12.3: By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
• SDG 17.6: Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism.

The targets identified are relevant to the article as they focus on sustainable food production, youth employment, technological capabilities, food waste reduction, and international cooperation.

3. Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article

• Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
• Indicator 8.6.1: Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment, or training
• Indicator 9.5.1: Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP
• Indicator 12.3.1: Global food loss index
• Indicator 17.6.1: Number of science and/or technology cooperation agreements and projects among countries

The article implies the importance of measuring the proportion of agricultural area under sustainable agriculture, the proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training, research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP, the global food loss index, and the number of science and/or technology cooperation agreements and projects among countries.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: hortidaily.com

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