From June 12 to 16, 2023, the Council of Agriculture (COA) is hosting visits to Taiwan by officials from member countries of the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) in order to learn more about Taiwan’s smart agriculture policy and attend hands-on demonstrations of technologies being used. The Assistant Secretary General of AARDO is leading a group of 16 visiting guests from ten countries, including officials from the AARDO Secretariat as well as officials from member countries whose work is related to agriculture and rural development. On these visits, these officials are able to get an understanding of Taiwan’s achievements in agricultural development. They are also visiting agribusinesses in the field of smart agriculture, and they will have on-site hand-on introductions to applications of agricultural technologies while also seeking investment and trade opportunities.

The COA notes that AARDO was founded in 1962 and its headquarter is in New Delhi, India. Its purpose is to strengthen agricultural cooperation and technical exchanges between members in the region and share collective agricultural resources. Taiwan joined AARDO in 1968 under the name “Republic of China” and has been a member of the 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 19th, and 20th (current) Executive Committees. Over the years Taiwan has continually cooperated with AARDO to promote education, training, and technical exchange programs, while also holding conferences on subjects related to agriculture and rural development and cooperating with member states in depth. Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years, officials from AARDO member countries have been unable to come to Taiwan for in-person participation in activities and exchanges. Because the pandemic has gradually eased, the COA this year has expanded activities for AARDO experts to come to Taiwan with the aim of informing member states about Taiwan’s situation and achievements in the promotion of smart agriculture. The fact that the AARDO Assistant Secretary General is visiting Taiwan in person right now demonstrates the positive feedback of international agricultural organizations towards Taiwan’s agricultural technology capabilities.

The COA points out that Taiwan has been promoting its smart agriculture program since 2017. Taiwan hopes to utilize its advantages in the Internet of Things and Big Data and through R&D into intelligent production and smart management technologies assist industries to break through the difficulties of small farmers working alone. Following six years of the promotion of various programs, there have already been many achievements that meet the needs of domestic industries, and R&D successes have been introduced for industrial applications. These include labor-saving wearable assistive devices, completely automated intelligent mushroom bag making machines, greenhouse digital twin technology and smart irrigation systems, etc. In the future the COA will strengthen commercialization of research results and sell them in the market. The current visits to Taiwan by these esteemed guests will deepen exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and AARDO, and at the same time enable foreign countries to see the vitality and potential of Taiwan’s agricultural sector, thereby raising Taiwan’s profile in the international community.