National Taiwan University Experimental Farm Introduction

The Affiliated Experimental Farm to the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture of National Taiwan University (hereinafter “the Farm”) can date its history back to 1924, when its precursor, the Practice Farm of Taihoku (Taipei) High School of Agriculture and Forestry, was established. In 1928, Taihoku Imperial University, the predecessor of the present National Taiwan University, was established. The farm thus became the Affiliated Farm to Taihoku Imperial University. In 2002, the College of Agriculture was renamed the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture in response to the change of time and environment, and the farm changed into its current name accordingly.
The Administration Building and the Agronomy Plot of the Farm, located on Keelung Road Section Four, sit in the southeast corner of the University Campus; the aggregated area is 5.77 hectares. The 3.41-hectare Horticulture Plot is at the foot of Chan-chu Mountain. The 2-hectare Husbandry Plot is located at the Department of Animal Science and Technology. Another location, with 20.05 hectares of land lies at Ankeng in Xindian District. The total area of the two locations aggregate to 31.23 hectares.
The main purpose of the Farm is to provide resources for departments and research institutes under the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture to conduct teaching, practice courses, researches, experiments, demonstrative operations and extension education.

Teaching and Hands-on Courses

The farm is the main teaching site for two hands-on courses offered by the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture: “Hands-on Experience of Modern Agriculture” and “Hands-on Experience of Field Life”. [KC1] The courses are open to all students in the university. Students enrolled in the courses are divided into 14 different groups, with respective focuses on food crops, floriculture, vegetables, animal husbandry, farm equipment, crop propagation, food processing, Crop Specimen Park, agricultural machinery, agriculture production and marketing, forestry, high mountain horticulture, farm management, and bio-environmental engineering. The farm also supports the following hands-on courses: “Field Crop Practice”, “Coffee Culture”, “Rice Culture”, “Aromatic and Spice Plants”, “Laboratory of Weed Management”, “Field Crops”, “Research Method in Crop Breeding”, and “Research Method in Crop Science” (Department of Agronomy); “Livestock Farm Practices”, “Dairy Technology Laboratory”, and “Meat Technology Laboratory” (Department of Animal Science and Technology); “Large Animal Surgery and Laboratory” (Department of Veterinary Medicine); “Swine Science” and “Dairy Science” (Department of Animal Science, Chinese Culture University).

Research

The Farm supports a range of experiments and researches. Around 80 projects are carried out on the Farm each year.
The Agronomy Section is located in the Crop Specimen Park by Zhoushan Road. The Park is home to more than a hundred crop specimens, including agronomic plants, garden plants and medical herbs. The Park is a rich source of living specimens for teaching and research. The research farm is divided into three sections with a total of 29 plots: 17 upland fields, 8 paddy fields and 4 odd lots. All of the plots are open to institutes and departments in the University for conducting research and tests.
The Horticulture Section consists of the Ecological Educational Park, Specimen Park for Ornamental Plants, Plant Germplasm Conservation Zones, and Fruits and Vegetable Plants Educational Park. Facilities in the section include horticultural classrooms, offices, cutting beds, shade trellis exhibition zone, agricultural machine parking roofs, food processing laboratories, and a newly constructed horticultural greenhouse of 2,059 km2. The greenhouse is built for variety improvement, the collection, cultivation and propagation of varieties, and the promotion of food processing research and processed produce.
Food processing laboratories under the Animal Husbandry Section supports teaching and research. The labs also produce dairy and meat products that are sold on campus; the income is in used to support the farm. The farm currently raises dairy cattle, goats, and small-ear Lee-Sung strain miniature pigs. The cattle produce 500 to 600 kilograms of milk per day, and the goats 40 to 60 kilograms per day. The farm animals are also raised for research purposes. Their blood, semen and milk are used for husbandry, veterinary, medical and life science researches.

Extension Education

The Farm boasts rich ecological resources. Guided tours are provided at the ecological pond of Liugong Ditch, located on Zhoushan Road, and the Crops Specimen Park. Lectures and workshops on ecology are also held from time to time. The Horticultural Section also carries out projects and activities promoting a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables. Combining agricultural production and ecological preservation, the Farm is steering towards sustainable and leisure agriculture.
 

Demonstrative Operations

The Farm is an operation fund with two Agricultural Exhibition Centers, one across Luming Square, and another in the New Moon Pavilion. The Centers exhibit not only homemade produce and dairy products, but also produce and organic products from farmers associations and agricultural production and marketing groups from all over Taiwan. The two centers also include cafes serving simple drinks. Dairy processing laboratories, meat processing laboratories, bread laboratories, drinks and ice dessert laboratories under the Farm produce rice, bread, popsicle, ice-cream sandwich, radish, wellness tea, juice, instant grass jelly powder, cow milk, goat milk, yogurt, yogurt drink, soybean milk, lactic apple milk, minced pork ball, bacon and sausage. As the products are known to be safe, clean and of good quality, they are popular among staff and students of the University.
 

Future Prospects

The Farm boasts a great variety of agricultural and husbandry equipment, and has long been the main site for agricultural hands-on and practice courses of the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture. In the future, the Farm will continue to support university staff and students in teaching, learning and research. The farm will also develop sustainable agriculture, with the aim of becoming a demonstrative farm. With bountiful resource and green land, the Farm will continue to contribute to promote agricultural education and agriculture development that is harmonious with the environment and ecology.