The champion of the annual Erlin Township dragon fruit competition in Changhua County has been announced. The winner is a middle-aged man who used to be a truck driver delivering pesticides who now grows dragon fruit for a living. Ou Tung-jung insists on not using pesticides, and after three years of working arduously he was finally granted the opportunity last week to taste the fruit of his labor.
The Erlin County Farmers’ Association held its annual dragon fruit competition on July 17, and among the 39 contestants who entered the contest there were several outstanding fruit farmers who had previously won gold and silver medals in national competitions. However, the gold medal this time went to Ou, a first-time competitor who has only been growing dragon fruit for three years.
The 53-year-old Ou was originally a truck driver delivering pesticide shipments, but upon reaching the age of 50 he decided to switch vocations and become a dragon fruit farmer. After taking classes, he put into practice all of the theories that his professors and experts had instilled in him. Ou uses organic farming methods and therefore insists on not using herbicides or pesticides, but by not using pesticides three plots of land in his orchard yielded only around NT$150,000 in revenue last year. Fortunately, with the support of his wife he won first place this year, proving that the anti-pesticide formula can indeed help him grow fruit that looks great, tastes great and is of a high quality.
Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者劉曉欣
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
彰化縣二林鎮今年的冠軍紅龍果出爐，得主是中年轉業的農藥貨運司機歐冬榮，他堅持不用農藥，歷經三年努力，上週終於嘗到甜美的果實！
二林鎮農會七月十七日舉行紅龍果比賽，共有三十九組參賽，其中不乏曾經在全國比賽摘金奪銀的傑出果農，結果冠軍是由第一次參賽、剛種紅龍果三年的歐冬榮奪得。
五十三歲的歐冬榮，原本是專載農藥的貨運司機，年過半百才決定轉行種紅龍果，他去上課，奉行教授專家的理論，果園採草生栽培，堅持不用除草劑，不用農藥，不過，堅持不用農藥的做法，使得三分地的果園，去年收成只有十五萬元，所幸有老婆的支持，如今拿到第一名，證明他的零農藥管理方式也能夠兼具賣相、甜度與品質。
（自由時報記者劉曉欣）
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