DaAiTV DaAiHeadline 20110512 Country's 1st all-organic village
In the interests of health and the environment, the trend towards organic food has been growing in recent years. In the first of a new series on getting back to nature, we go to Luoshan, in Fuli Township of Hualien County, which is Taiwan's first completely organic farming village. Sheltered by mountains on three sides, and with its own supply of water from the Luoshan falls, the village was the ideal candidate to become a chemical-free zone. Local farmers are doing their part, by sticking to organic methods, hand-weeding their fields, and not using man-made fertilizers or pesticides. But is it worth the effort? We went to scenic Luoshan to see for ourselves.
為了健康、也為了土地環境，近幾年有機栽種愈來愈盛行，今天食在自然的系列 第一集專題中，帶大家到花蓮富里鄉的羅山村，是台灣第一個整村全部施行無毒農作的有機村，羅山村因為三面環山、又有獨立的水源，所以成為零汙染無化學肥料的村莊，幫地農民利用優越的地理環境，手工除草、不使用人工化學肥料或農藥，但是成效如何，一起到羅山村去看看。
( Whole village goes organic )
The rift valley on the east coast of Taiwan is without doubt the most attractive corridor of green in the country. Unspoiled by polluting factories, the area is home Luoshan village - which is the first farming village in Taiwan to go entirely organic.
Life in the traditional farming village is simple.
Give it to granny. Thank you. You didn't say You're welcome. (You're welcome.)
( Sheltered village in a valley )
Nine years ago, the Agriculture Research Station selected Luoshan, which has an enclosed environment and an independent water supply, as Taiwan's model organic village.
Luoshan Village farmer, Wen Xiuchun :Geographically, Luoshan is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there are mountains to the north and south, so it's like a dustpan.
Protected by the surrounding hills, the area is isolated from the outside, and the water supply is the Luoshan Waterfall, which feeds directly into the village.
( Supplied by Luoshan Waterfall )
Water from the falls does not pass through other settlements before reaching Luoshan. Villagers long ago redirected the flow to make a large fish pond, which also irrigates their fields.
( Farmers follow organic rules )
To qualify as an organic farming village, apart from not using chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the area must not be contaminated by polluted water and soil from outside. Some countries demand no sources of pollution within a 3km radius.
What's that? It's rice seedlings.
Carrying seedlings on his shoulder, organic rice farmer Wen Xiuchun(溫秀春) is ready to plant his paddy. Luoshan is blessed with the ideal climate and geography, and the local villagers are 100 percent behind the organic program.
Luoshan Village farmer, Wen Xiuchun : That's fine. Now we can go in, and where there's a gap, or where there are smaller shoots, we can fill them in. Okay, let's get planting.
Oh, it's so soft!
( Picking out weeds, pests by hand )
Luoshan Village farmer, Wen Xiuchun : I don't use chemical fertilizer or pesticide. The rest is done by hand. Like the weeds in the field, other farmers can spray them, but I have to cut them.
As well as weeding, farmer Wen also rids the field of pests by hand.
Village farmer, Wen Xiuchun : This is a small one, but it didn't used to be small. It was eaten by a golden apple snail, and now it's growing again after being eaten, so it's shorter. It was eaten by a golden apple snail.
( Natural way better for farmer's health )
Despite the threat of veracious snails, the organic farmer can only use natural deterrents, like hot chili pepper or camellia oil. But Wen Xiuchun is not complaining.
Luoshan Village farmer, Wen Xiuchun : In the past, before I started growing organically, in my orchard and paddy field, every time I sprayed, I would get a bad headache. That's a sign of poisoning. Although you can get drugs to make it better, I think in the long-run it'll be bad.
( Transparent organic growing )
In cooperation with the Council of Agriculture, the farmers keep a careful record of their work. The database is a transparent archive of who farmed the organic rice and how it was grown.
Perhaps the intimate relationship between people, the land, and our food does not have to be interrupted by pesticides and chemical fertilizers