Inauguration of Agricultural Incubation & Promotion Center on Yunlin Campus

The “Chuhe Building” (鋤禾館), or the Agricultural Incubation and Promotion Center on NTU Yunlin Campus, was officially inaugurated on July 18. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Tsung-Hsien Lin (林聰賢), former COA Minister Bao-Ji Chen (陳保基), COA Department of Science and Technology Director Shyh-Shyan Wang (王仕賢), and Magistrate of Yunlin County Chin-Yung Lee (李進勇). NTU faculty members and academics in attendance included NTU Interim President Tei-Wei Kuo (郭大維), Executive Vice Presidents Ching-Ray Chang (張慶瑞) and Shu-Hsing Li (李書行), NTU Hospital Yunlin Branch Superintendent Juey-Jen Hwang (黃瑞仁), and Dean of the College of Bioresources and Agriculture (CBA-NTU) Huu-Sheng Lur (盧虎生). Interim President Kuo stressed that the Center will be used as the venue for large-scale displays, various education and training events, and the exhibition and marketing of research results. It will also serve as a model for advanced agricultural technology research.

Yunlin County Council approved the use of 54 hectares of land near the Taiwan High Speed Rail Yunlin Station Special Zone, free of charge, to NTU for the establishment of an NTU Hospital-affiliated hospital in Huwei, Yunlin. This major decision was not only in keeping with the overall policy agenda of NTU, it also promises to meet the medical needs of the people of Yunlin County. CBA-NTU planned the establishment of the Agricultural Incubation and Promotion Center to encourage extensive academia-industry collaboration. The Center had a set-up budget of around NTD 55 million, and was funded jointly by the COA, Yunlin County Government, and CBA-NTU. The building of the Center was entrusted to the Experimental Forest Administration of CBA-NTU.

CBA-NTU Dean Lur affirmed that the Center would be dedicated to the development of innovative agricultural technology and the promotion of environmental/ecological education and incubation programs. In other words, the Center would be responsible for innovating, adding value to, and upgrading agricultural services in Yunlin. To that end, NTU’s Experimental Forest Administration, Experimental Farm, faculty members of the Research Center for Plant Medicine, the Committee of Agricultural Extension, and other units have begun planning a new agriculture joint service platform to facilitate the development of local agricultural endeavors. Moreover, a series of in-service courses offered in Yunlin, a major agricultural area, has been arranged to nurture local agricultural talent and introduce industry-academia-research cooperation initiatives for the county.

This article will also be featured in No. 67 of NTU Highlights (August, 2018).