Hualien County is the third largest soybean-producing area in Taiwan, with an area of 718 hectares, about half of which is organic soybeans. Zeng Guiguo, a farmer who has been engaged in organic farming for 31 years under the guidance of the Eastern District Branch of the Agriculture and Food Administration, established the Dongfeng Shisui Organic Food Processing Factory in Meilun Industrial Zone, Hualien City. Zeng Guoguo said that in the past, organic farmers often had to send soy milk to counties and cities outside the west for production. The new factory is the only purely organic production line in Hualien. Small farmers are also welcome to process in small batches and solve production and marketing problems together!
"The biggest wish of farmers is that the crops they produce are not wasted at all and can be properly utilized"! Zeng Guoguo, a farmer who has been engaged in organic rice and grain farming in Yuli for 30 years, has been studying how to get value from agricultural products through processing for many years, ranging from organic soy milk, Wendan pomelo nougat, Wendan beer, to black bean beer, black bean health tea, whiskey and even brewing soy sauce. However, most of them have to rely on the assistance of processing plants in other counties and cities.
Today, the Dongfeng Shisui Food Processing Factory was established. Zeng Guoguo held the hand of his father Zeng Wenzhen to unveil the factory. Chen Jicun, deputy director of the Eastern Branch of the Agriculture and Food Administration, the Fengrong District Farmers Association and the Yuxi District Farmers Association, as well as organic soybean farmers, all came to participate. The processing plant covers an area of 320 square meters and is equipped with organic production lines for soy milk, tofu, and bean curd.
Zeng Guoguo said that a long-lasting soy milk production line will be opened in the future, with the production capacity to cover all the more than 300 hectares of organic soybeans in Hualien County. The processed products will be sold through organic channels such as Liren, and will also be operated as a tourist factory. Appointments are open to visit the production line.
Talking about the original intention of setting up a processing plant, Zeng Guoguo mentioned that as a farmer, the most distressing thing is that the agricultural products that have been worked hard to take care of are eliminated just because they have some flaws in appearance or the specifications do not meet the needs of the market. Through processing, the products that do not look good after grading can gain value. Therefore, he went everywhere to get loans and set up a factory. After overcoming all difficulties, he finally applied for an organic food processing factory registration certificate.
Chen Jicun, deputy director of the Eastern District Branch of the Agricultural and Food Administration, said that in recent years, the transformation of the grain industry has been promoted, and farmers have been coached to switch to cereal crops to improve the import substitution rate of cereals. After 30 years of efforts, Hualien County has become the third largest soybean producing area in Taiwan, with an area of 718 hectares, accounting for 14% of the national planting area. Among them, 350 hectares of soybean fields have passed organic certification, and Dongfeng Shisui Farm is one of them. The processing plant has established a consistent system from production to processing and marketing, allowing local organic farmers to process on site without having to send it to other counties and cities, reducing transportation costs and carbon emissions, and increasing farmers' income.
The opening series of activities "Agricultural Interest Gathering" will not only display large-scale agricultural machinery and equipment, but also have fun sports games, a straw mountain and an organic agriculture market tomorrow, the 15th. Spend 100 yuan on site to purchase 200 yuan worth of market consumption coupons and lottery tickets, and invite friends of all ages to learn about Hualien's organic soybean industry.
