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- Workshop on Developing Organic Agriculture as New Business Opportunity for Small-scale Farmers
- FFTC welcomes new director
FFTC, the National Ilan University (NIU) and Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) join hands to organize a workshop on organic agriculture with special focus on its business opportunity. This will be held on May 23-24, 2017 at the National Ilan University.
Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agroecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It provides several benefits, as it reduces many of the environmental impacts of conventional agriculture, reduces reliance on costly inputs, guarantees food safety, and increases price premiums. Organic farmers also benefit from organizing in farmer cooperatives and the building of social networks, which give them with better access to new technologies, training and credit. Organic agriculture generally reduces the vulnerability of farmers as the higher organic prices act as buffer against the low prices and price volatility of conventional markets, as organic systems are often more resilient against extreme weather events, and as the often diverse organic crop-livestock systems offer a diverse set of outputs.
The global organic food market is growing and consumer demand increasing, global organic food market is approximately 75 billion euros and Asia market is 6 billion euros. In 2015, there are 2.4 million organic agriculture producers, 1/3 of them are in Asia, and it has been a 10 times increase in the number since 1999. There is growing public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of organic food, and an increasing demand for local and organic agricultural products in recent years. Some communities in USA, European, and Asian countries had begun to build locally-supported systems to meet emerging market demands, and consumers were gaining more exposure to the concept of local food at their grocery stores and neighborhood farmers market. Today, farmers can sell organic products into local markets, from farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture to local restaurants, grocery stores and institutions (hospital, elementary school lunch, public offices and etc.), generating huge returns for local communities. Organic farming increasing diversity in agriculture, from local to global and from conventional to organic, it not only creates new business opportunities for enterprises but also for the small-scale farmers.
The Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) for the Asian and Pacific Region and the National Ilan University (NIU) in Taiwan join hands to organize the proposed workshop to share the current organic agriculture related issues as well as different approaches implemented by different groups toward green agriculture. The workshop is also showing the successful business models in Taiwan and deliberating the direction of future research and ways to strengthen collaboration to face the challenges of climate change on small-scale organic cultivation systems in the Asian and Pacific Region.
Workshop themes:
- Current Status of Organic Agriculture in the Asian and Pacific Region
- Organic Certification and Accreditation
- Assisting SSFs in Organic Agriculture: Roles of Government, Universities and Industries
- Successful Business Models in Marketing Organic Products
Workshop objective:
To collate, collect, and share current development of organic farming, organic farming systems, practical organic experiences, and successful business models in marketing organic products in the Asian and Pacific region.
Expected outputs:
- Experiences shared/exchanged about organic practices, certification programs, and eco-friendly agriculture
- Knowledge and experiences relating to successful business models in marketing organic products
- Hardcopy and electronic versions of seminar proceedings circulated to a wider audience
Expected participants:
- Organic agriculture research professionals from both government and the academic
- Representatives from regional organizations
- Local farmers and private sectors
Venue:
Ilan University:
No. 1, Section 1, Shennong Road, Yilan City, Yilan County, 260
Workshop activities:
The workshop will consist of paper presentations and group discussion.
23 May: Workshop oral presentation
24 May: Workshop oral presentation and general discussion
Registration
- Registration is open until the 5th of May 2017
- Authors’ registration includes all events in the workshop, field studies, breaks, and lunch, welcome and farewell dinners
- Listeners' registration includes the workshop, breaks, and lunches
- To register, please register in our website
Co-organizers of the workshop
- National Ilan University (NIU): Dr. Chang-Ju Huang-Tzeng
- Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC): Dr. Wan-Tien Tsai at < wantientsai@fftc.org.tw>
- Yilan Irrigation Association
Reference
Workshop on Developing Organic Agriculture as New Business Opportunity for Small-scale Farmers
23-24 MAY, 2017
National Ilan University: No. 1, Section 1, Shennong Road, Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan
Program
23 May 2017 (Tuesday)
09:00-09:30 |
Registration |
8F Jia Se Building |
09:30-9:50 |
Opening Ceremony Moderator: Mr. Ronald Mangubat Information Officer, FFTC |
|
Welcome Remarks |
Dr. Chi-Chung Chen Deputy Minister, COA |
|
Dr. Po-Ching Wu President, NIU |
||
Dr. Kuo-Ching Lin Director, FFTC |
||
Introduction of Participants |
Dr. Wan-Tien Tsai Agricultural Specialist, FFTC |
|
09:50-10:00 |
Group Photo |
|
10:00-10:20 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
|
Session I |
Current Status of Organic Agriculture in the Asian and Pacific Region Dean, College of Science and Technology, Nanhua University |
|
10:20-11:15 |
Organic Agriculture in Japan and Perspective of Organic Vegetable Production in Green House |
Dr. Akimasa Nakano Project Leader Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science, NARO, Japan |
11:15-12:10 |
On the Rise: Taiwan’s Organic Agriculture (展翅飛翔中的臺灣有機農業) |
Dr. Lih-Fang Lin Director-General Department of National Affairs, Council of Agriculture, Taiwan |
12:10-13:30 |
Lunch |
NIU (Buffet) |
13:30-14:05 |
Current Status of Organic Farming in Thailand |
Dr. Sali Chinsathit Senior Agricultural Expert Office of Agricultural Research and Development region 6, Department of Agriculture of Thailand |
14:05-14:40 |
Organic Production in Vietnam: Current Status and Future Prospective |
Dr. Dam Ngo Doan Deputy Director-General Field Crops Research Institute Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Vietnam |
24 May 2017 (Wednesday)
08.40-09.00 |
Registration |
8F Jia Se Building |
Session II |
Assisting SSFs in Organic Agriculture: Roles of Government and Research/Education Institutes Chairperson: Dr. Akimasa Nakano Project Leader Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science, NARO, Japan |
|
09:00-09:50 |
Promoting Organic Agriculture in Taiwan: The Role of Education Institutes |
Dr. Shih-Shiung Chen Chair Professor and Dean of College of NanHwa University, Taiwan |
09:50-10:40 |
Assisting SSFs in Organic Agriculture: The Role of Rural Development Administration |
Dr. Young Woong Byeon Senior Researcher Organic Agriculture Division National Academy of Agricultural Science Rural Development Administration, Korea |
10:40-11:00 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
|
11:00-11:30 |
Strengthening Organic Agriculture Industry in Malaysia through Research and Technology |
Ms. Illani Zuraihah Ibrahim Senior Research Officer Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Malaysia |
11:30-12:00 |
Organic Farming Development in the Philippines |
Mr. Ramon P. Maranon Organic Farming Board c/o Department of Agriculture, Philippines |
Note: The schedule may be subjected to change if necessary