The Council of Agriculture has launched the project “Value-added Packaging Techniques for Agricultural Products” plan this year in order to meet the challenges of the knowledge-based economy and strengthen the protection and utilization of agricultural intellectual property. This plan focuses on three products: eel, grouper and poultry and seeks to utilize research and development results to increase the scope of technology applications and enhance value.

The Council had previously introduced value-added packaging techniques on two agricultural products: the papaya and orchid. That was done in accordance with the conclusions and recommendations of the 2004 Production Technology Strategies Conference organized by the Executive Yuan. The Conference topic was “Enhancing the Market Competitiveness of Agricultural Products through Value-Added Packaging.”

That conference recommended to use the technological research results to enhance market competitiveness. The application of the methods to the three products this year is a follow up on the methods application to the previous two items.

The Council of Agriculture has contracted professional agencies to implement the value-added packaging techniques on the eel, grouper and poultry products. The three items were chosen based on several reasons. The eel is growing rapidly in tropical zones and its fingerlings are the fastest growing species among those bred in ocean nets. The grouper has a high commercial value and there are around 400 species in the world. Aquaculture experts foresee its high market competitiveness. For the poultry products, duck and native chicken meats have high export potential. Currently, duck meat is mostly exported to Japan. But Taiwan exporters have excellent poultry processing technology and could easily penetrate Southeast Asian markets besides Japan.

The Council is currently working together with research institutes and in universities to implement this plan and is optimistic that the value-added packaging techniques applied on the three above-mentioned products will be another success, after the papaya and orchid.