Organic farming last year comprised about 3 percent of all arable land in Taiwan, producing a record-breaking 40 tonnes of organic agricultural exports, Ministry of Agriculture data showed.
Codified in the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法), Taiwan’s push for organic farming is a key part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) sustainable development policy, Agriculture and Food Agency agricultural resource division head Huang Chun-chin (黃俊欽) said yesterday.
Land being used for organic or environmentally friendly agriculture has reached 24,114 hectares, or 3.06 percent of all land in Taiwan under cultivation, a 3.5-fold increase, he said.
Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times
The number of certified organic farms increased to 5,131 last year, up from 2,969 farms in 2017, or 72 percent growth, Huang added.
The agency has made use of domestic organic produce in school lunches and promoted its sale at supermarkets in a bid to encourage the transition to organic agriculture, while many farmers have made the change on their own, he said.
The success of the policy can be gauged by figures for vegetable sales at the nation’s supermarkets, Huang said, adding that organic farm produce claimed a lion’s share of them.
Citing agency statistics, Huang said the most common produce bearing the organic or environmentally friendly label were vegetables, accounting for 30 percent of the total, adding that rice and specialty grains were the second-most common.
Fruits claim the smallest share of organic produce due to higher risks and less frequent harvests, although organic citrus fruits were relatively popular among planters, Huang added.
Taiwan and Japan inked an organic equivalence agreement in 2019, followed by the signing of similar pacts with New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada, India and Paraguay, he said.
Bilateral organic equivalence agreements achieved commonly recognized standards and certificates for organic produce, allowing export of a country’s organic-labeled products to another, which Taiwan could not do earlier, he said.
These trade deals have become a significant boost to the nation’s domestic organic farms abroad and at home, as their products can bear foreign certification labels that bolster consumer confidence, Huang said.
Last year, the nation’s organic agricultural exports totaled an unprecedented 40 tonnes, including fresh and processed products that consisted mainly of mushrooms and rice, he said.
Talks with the UK and the EU for organic equivalence agreements are ongoing, Huang said.
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