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Taiwan eyes controlled environment agriculture exports
Taipei, A Taiwanese company is being featured at the Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum held in Taipei for its export of controlled environment agriculture factories to other Asian countries, which the Council of Agriculture (COA) is touting as a role model for the industry.
The indoor farming system developed by Taiding Automation Canopy Ltd. is so successful the company not only exports entire factories but also know-how for personnel training and facility maintenance to overseas investors, COA officials said on Thursday at the opening of the three-day show.
Taiding has become a model for the sector as it links the supply chain to demand, said Chen Jui-jung (???), vice president of the COA's Agricultural Technology Research Institute.
Chen explained that besides its package plant exports, the company also purchases the produce grown by its buyers and sells it locally.
Taiding Chairman Lin Jung-tsan (???) told CNA that its product and service have not only been ordered by farmers in Nantou and Miaoli counties in Taiwan but also investors in Malaysia, where two farms are being built to grow melons, Chinese dates and durian.
Farmers in Okinawa, Japan have also shown an interest in importing the plant, Lin said.
Lin said the firm's farming methods are more economical than those of their main competitors in the Netherlands, one of the most advanced countries in the field of controlled environment agriculture.
Unlike mainstream indoor farming operators, Lin said Taiding's farm does not use air conditioning and glass walls but rather a movable and automatic canopy on the roof, which is good for ventilation and exposure to sunshine.
One farm costs NT$2 million (US$65,440) per 0.1 hectare, about one tenth of the cost from a typical Dutch company, he added.
Lin said Taiding is eying the market in tropical countries and currently customizing a controlled agricultural facility that can keep temperatures between 15-25 degrees Celsius.
During the expo last year, the COA said, it brought together 17 foreign companies to partner with Taiwanese firms, leading to orders worth NT$16.95 million.
A total of 210 companies from 19 countries are exhibiting at the event this year, the COA said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel
