Chen Jizhong, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, went to Ruisui Township today to host a national youth farmer forum and share the achievements of new agricultural governance.

(provided by the Council of Agriculture)

[Reporter Hua Mengjing/Hualien Report] In order to help young farmers obtain farmland and expand the cultivated area to increase income, Chen Jizhong, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, said at the National Symposium on Young Farmers held in Hualien today (18th) that on June 1 Starting today, the Council of Agriculture will abolish the requirement that old farmers over the age of 65 must hold at least one point of farmland to maintain their rural insurance qualifications, and all farmland can be leased to young farmers for farming; The number of migrant workers has been expanded to 12,000.

Affected by the epidemic, the National Youth Farmers Symposium held by the Council of Agriculture has been suspended for two years, and it finally resumed this year. More than 300 young farmers from 17 counties and cities across the country gathered in Hualien today. The Bureau of Financial Services, the Agriculture and Food Administration, and various agricultural reform sites jointly proposed solutions to various problems raised by the young farmers on site.

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Chen Jizhong, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, said that Taiwan's agriculture has become more dynamic because of the input of young farmers. "The future of Taiwan's agriculture is here." Five years ago, in 2018, the Agricultural Finance Bureau of the Council of Farmers have more than 1 billion yuan, and it has grown to nearly 5 billion yuan last year, which shows that young farmers are willing to invest in agriculture and expand their scale.

Chen Jizhong pointed out that in the past, farmland was fragmented, and the income of young farmers now will be greatly increased due to the expansion of land scale. For example, the hard corn that was promoted last year, farmers participating in small landlords and large tenant farmers can earn 10,000 per hectare. It is 200 hectares, and the income can be imagined.

Young farmers reported that young farmers returning to their hometowns want to have more land to cultivate, and old farmers also want to release their farmland to young farmers for farming and collecting rent, but they are worried about losing their qualifications for agricultural insurance. Chen Jizhong said that in this year's agricultural insurance regulations In the revision, it has been clearly stipulated that as long as farmers over the age of 65 have more than 15 years of rural insurance coverage, they can maintain their rural insurance qualifications without retaining 1 point of land. Old farmers can rent all their farmland to young farmers for rent collection, and hand over the management rights to young farmers. Farming is expected to be announced and implemented on June 1.

Regarding the shortage of agricultural workers, the Counseling Office of the Council of Agriculture pointed out that it will continue to accelerate the promotion of agricultural mechanization. In the past four years, the Council of Agriculture has subsidized 6 billion yuan for farmers to buy agricultural machinery and tools. In the future, it will also subsidize 2.3 billion yuan each year. Automation can improve competitiveness, reduce costs, and solve the problem of labor shortage.

Chen Jizhong also said that before the completion of agricultural mechanization, in addition to solving the seasonal shortage of workers through the agricultural master team, the current policy is to introduce agricultural migrant workers. Originally, the Ministry of Labor approved a quota of 6,000 people, but due to the epidemic, the current introduction of about 2,000 people, After the epidemic eases, in addition to making up for it one after another, the Ministry of Labor has also agreed on the 6th of this month that the quota will be increased to 12,000. Migrant workers will be properly dispatched. Farmer groups can apply for agricultural migrant workers to solve the problem of short-term labor shortages.

The National Symposium on Youth Farmers Exchange was held in Ruisui Township, Hualien today, attracting the participation of farmers associations and youth farmers from 17 counties and cities across the country. More than 300 people gathered at the scene, and even Kinmen farmers also participated across the sea.

(Photo by reporter Hua Mengjing)

Many tea-picking "girls" are old. In order to solve the shortage of workers, the Council of Agriculture will not only introduce agricultural migrant workers, but also develop agricultural mechanization. At present, some tea farmers have introduced automatic tea-picking machines.

(Photo by reporter Hua Mengjing)

In the past four years, the Council of Agriculture has subsidized 6 billion yuan for farmers to purchase small-scale agricultural machinery, including the purchase of plant protection machines, which are convenient for farmers to apply fertilizers and medicines, and save labor.

(Photo by reporter Hua Mengjing)