On November 22, 2023, a signing ceremony was held for a memorandum of strategic alliance on industry-university cooperation between National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and the Veterans Affairs Council. The two organizations have been cooperating with one another since 2019 in such areas as student internships, animal health care, specialty food development, and farm registration feasibility assessments. Based on the successful results, they now hope to expand on their cooperation. At the ceremony, NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang and Veterans Affairs Council Chairman Shih-kuan Feng signed the memorandum on behalf of both parties with their respective representatives present to witness the occasion.
Veterans Affairs Council Chairman Shih-kuan Feng said “the Veterans Affairs Council and NPUST signed a letter of intent for cooperation two years ago, and it has achieved the expected results. We hope that both parties can work together to reach another level of success in the future on projects for talent cultivation, agricultural technology, and tourism and recreation planning”. NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang said “thanks to the support provided by the Veterans Affairs Council, the cooperation has been very successful over the past few years. The school has accumulated rich practical experience while cultivating talent at five major farms. Through good communication and cooperation, we firmly believe that we can become each other’s strongest partners in the future.”
In recent years, NPUST has cooperated with Uni-President Enterprises and Moss Burger on low-carbon rice production using probiotic technology. The technique allows for a 30% reduction in irrigation, as well as reduced fertilizers, pesticides, and manpower. Currently, they look forward to working with teams from the Veterans Affairs Council to promote low-carbon production and set up carbon inventory-related training courses in an effort to achieve net-zero development goals.”
Through this cooperation, NPUST’s professional experience in smart agriculture will be applied to the farms operated under the Veterans Affairs Council. Working on the farms they will conduct activities focused on improving the aging of fruit trees, maintaining animal health, expanding leisure facilities, and adding value to agricultural products.
As part of the effort to reduce carbon in agriculture, NPUST has applied such technologies as smart sensors, drone monitoring, and probiotic water-saving farming methods. Research in these areas will play an important role in the future of sustainable development, and through on-site cooperation at Veterans Affairs Council farms, hopes are to make a greater contribution to Taiwan’s agricultural development in the future.
