The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft bill of a “plant therapist act” (植物診療師法), which would make Taiwan the first nation to establish dedicated laws and accredit plant doctors through a national examination, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said.
The act would facilitate a pesticide reduction policy, while demonstrating the government’s determination to ensure agricultural product safety and environmentally sustainable development, Cho said.
Developing a professional plant therapist service system would help rebuild production management of the agrifood supply chain from upstream, and supply a workforce for the controlling of plant disease epidemics, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Deputy Director-General Du Li-hua (杜麗華) said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Plant therapists would be obligated to report the discovery of new pests in Taiwan to authorities within 24 hours, and assist with plant disease and pest control, the draft bill states.
Meanwhile, accredited plant therapists could also teach farm workers about precision pesticide use, as global climate change has raised the public’s awareness of food safety and the safe use of pesticides in agriculture, Du said.
Reducing the risks of the use of chemical pesticide in agriculture has become a global trend, Du added.
The establishment of the plant therapist profession would not affect agricultural workers’ right to use the agency’s pest control diagnosis services, and plant therapists would not be permitted to sell pesticides without a certification in agricultural pesticide management, she said.
The act would not be applicable to forestry technologists, horticultural technologists and agronomists, and would not affect their rights, Du added.
The draft bill stipulates that future plant therapists could practice the profession nationwide with one registration.
Their job would include the identification of plant pests, diagnosis of physiological plant disorders, and instruction on pest control techniques.
The draft bill is to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS