NTU and the CSD Center to Cooperate in Promoting Smart Agriculture

The NTU College of Bioresources and Agriculture (BIOAGRI) and the Corporate Synergy Development (CSD) Center signed a letter of intent (LOI) on March 12, 2018. On behalf of their organizations, the CSD Center’s General Manager Hsin-Hua Chu (朱興華) and Dean Huu-Sheng Lur (盧虎生) of NTU BIOAGRI signed the LOI, which aims to facilitate collaborations in fields ranging from agricultural development, technological exchanges, industrial development, and development of agricultural management talent. Furthermore, a series of company visits will be organized to better prepare BIOAGRI students for a career in the agricultural industry.

Agriculture in Taiwan is facing multiple challenges economically, socially, ecologically, and politically. The world is undergoing the rapid development and interdisciplinary applications of information and communications, internet of things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and biotechnology. With the introduction of smart technology, the agricultural, ecological, and environmental technologies and industries are drawing increasing attention worldwide. BIOAGRI boasts rich, diverse, and comprehensive resources as well as excellent faculty and students, which position the college at the forefront of facilitating smart agriculture and talent development.

The CSD Center included agricultural management into its cooperation networks as early as 2009. Since then, the center has striven to enhance the competitive advantages of Taiwan’s agricultural technology industry. By now, it has successfully developed more than 30 agricultural CSD systems, as well as provided consultation and integration services for over 250 and 2,000 agribusinesses, respectively. In addition to corporate consultation, the CSD Center has also helped promote industrial and corporate development in more than 100 agricultural communities, thereby increasing their operating capacity, enhancing their talent training, encouraging young people to join the agricultural workforce, bringing in more human resources and generating more output, and upgrading industries at all levels.

In the future, BIOAGRI and the CSD Center expect to pursue in-depth collaborations in the following areas:

Talent Development: Commissioned by the Council of Agriculture (COA), NTU and the CSD Center have jointly conducted the “Elite Program on Scientific and Technological Agribusiness Management Program” for six years. More corporate internationalization resources and energy will be invested to develop an elite program on international agribusiness management to help train workforce for Taiwanese Government’s New Southbound Policy.

Smart Agriculture: Currently, BIOAGRI faculty and the CSD Center have also worked together in a COA-led technology project to help Great Agri. Technology Co., Ltd. develop a smart process for growing sweet corn, and will extend this smart technology to the aquaculture and livestock industries.

Industry–Academia Cooperation: In the future, BIOAGRI and the CSD Center expect to conduct interdisciplinary collaborations in such fields as R&D innovation, technological transaction, logistics and marketing, ICT/OIT upgrade, circular economy, quality management systems, and cultural and creative value-added to facilitate industrial transformation and upgrade.

Food Traceability: Blockchain technology will be introduced to agronomy to enhance related applications. By creating a win-win situation for industry, government, and academia, BIOAGRI and the CSD Center hope to upgrade agricultural industries, use smart technology to boost agricultural profits, and increase the international visibility of Taiwan’s agriculture to open up new opportunities and possibilities.