Yunlin County Magistrate Chang shares vision for agricultural sustainability and industrial transformation at the 2025 Taiwan Future International Summit

(中央社訊息服務20251112 14:39:17)Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan (張麗善) attended the 2025 Taiwan Future International Summit, hosted by Business Today, on June 18. Under the theme "Yunlin's Transformation Opportunities: From Agricultural Sustainability to Industrial Upgrading", she shared Yunlin's transformation journey through four key aspects, covering the county’s current conditions and challenges, practical implementation, innovation and difficulty, and cross-domain cooperation.

Magistrate Chang stated that Yunlin is not only a leading agricultural county but also ranks first in Taiwan in total agricultural output value. Over her six years in office, the county's agricultural output value has grown from NT$76.9 billion to NT$93.6 billion, demonstrating remarkable growth and the continued strengthening of Yunlin’s agricultural competitiveness.

Yunlin, Taiwan's granary and largest center for fruit, vegetable, and livestock production, has long played a crucial role in stabilizing the nation's food supply. Facing dual challenges of climate change and an aging agricultural workforce, the county government has led the way in establishing the Local Revitalization and Climate Change Project Office and the Net Zero Transformation and Integration Service Point of Contact, integrating cross-departmental efforts and smart technologies to strengthen agricultural resilience and turn challenges into opportunities for sustainable transformation.

Magistrate Chang pointed out that carbon reduction and carbon sink management are key strategies for agricultural sustainability. This is not only the responsibility of the agricultural sector but also requires the participation of industries and society. As part of Yunlin County’s roadmap toward agricultural net-zero emissions by 2040, three major strategies have been outlined: industrial transformation, future agriculture, and social support. These strategies aim to gradually reduce carbon emissions through technologies such as precision pesticide use and smart water and energy conservation. Furthermore, with corporate tree-planting initiatives and agricultural enterprises generating their own renewable energy, agricultural transformation has extended beyond farmlands to encompass enterprises and the entire industrial chain, jointly building a low-carbon supply chain.

Facing the challenges of carbon reduction and carbon neutrality, Yunlin County has implemented agricultural technology to achieve concrete results and create replicable and scalable models of success. Examples include Shining Sprouts in Beigang Township, which uses smart agricultural management to increase production fourfold while maintaining organic cultivation, becoming the only sprout producer in Taiwan with full traceability and certification that combines food safety and commercial profitability; EZaquaculture Company in Kouhu Township, which employs unmanned feeding boats that transformed traditional fish-farming methods, eliminating manual labor, reducing feeding time by 77% and increasing efficiency by 500%; Fang Yuan Farm in Sihu Township, using a smart energy-saving system and modern farming techniques, can now detect when a goose has a fever; and Baixiang Meat Co., Ltd. in Baozhong Township, which, through its smart management system, raised its rearing success rate from 99% to 99.9999% and reduced water consumption by 83%, effectively saving costs and increasing product competitiveness. Magistrate Chang highlighted that the four examples demonstrate how Yunlin’s agriculture, fishery, and livestock industries have moved beyond the traditional image of weather-dependent industries and are now entering a new era characterized by high efficiency, low carbon emissions, and data-driven innovation.

As global climate change intensifies, energy transition and resource recycling have become not only environmental slogans but also key competitive strengths for businesses and local governance in achieving sustainable development. Yunlin County, with this determination and action, aims to achieve the nation’s 2050 goal of full recycling and zero waste by 2030, twenty years ahead of schedule. In promoting its dual strategy of energy and resource circulation, Yunlin County converts waste branches, livestock manure, and household waste into biogas and solid recovered fuel (SRF) to supply local energy. At the same time, food waste, discarded agricultural films, recycled plastics, and regenerated pellets are reused as raw materials for products such as clam shell pavements, agricultural insect-proof nets, fertilizers, and large furniture, creating a circular economy that turns waste into valuable resources.

Magistrate Chang added that Yunlin is a county without any incinerators and has pioneered both the "Zero Waste Recycling System (ZWS)" and the "Fully Mobile Waste Sorting and SRF Production System," creating the nation's most comprehensive household waste conversion network. The ZWS system can process up to 150 tons of household waste per day, shredding, sorting, and drying waste before converting them into solid recovered fuels, achieving a conversion rate of 35% to 40%. This system not only relieves landfill pressure but also effectively transforms waste into reusable energy, saving the county treasury an estimated NT$290 million in waste treatment costs. The upgraded "Fully Mobile Waste Sorting System,” Taiwan’s first mobile waste disposal system, can handle 200 tons of household waste per day and extract light fuel to produce solid recovered fuels with an efficiency rate of 50% to 60%. This groundbreaking achievement earned Yunlin County recognition with the 2023 Government Service Award.

To cope with extreme climate change and global market changes, the county government is actively promoting smart agriculture, guiding agricultural and food-processing companies to establish brand marketing and achieve sixth-tier industrial transformation. The county established the brand "Yunlin Goods,” successfully building the reputation and marketing platform of "Yunlin Goods, Must Be Premium.” In recent years, the brand has achieved strong sales at the Foodex Japan, Food & Hospitality Asia in Singapore, and Taipei International Food Show, successfully entering physical supermarkets and e-commerce platforms in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia, thereby increasing farmers' income and agricultural efficiency.

Magistrate Chang emphasized that agricultural transformation cannot rely solely on hardware and systems; it also requires cultivating talent capable of mastering new technologies, understanding market trends, and fostering innovative thinking. Yunlin County has established the nation's first "Smart Agriculture Academy," offering courses in seven key areas: food and agriculture education, cold chain logistics, food processing, pesticide application, brand marketing, and smart agriculture. Since its founding in 2020, over 2,000 participants have completed various training programs, with more than 300 trained this year. To strengthen the resilience of agricultural operations, the county government has established the "Yunlin Digital Agriculture Mobile Platform," integrating 30 years of meteorological big data with nationwide market information. It also launched the "Agricultural Price Trend Observer" to help farmers grasp real-time market trends and make precise production and sales decisions. The county government also signed an MOU with the Central Weather Administration of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to enhance the utilization of meteorological data.

Chang emphasized that young people are not only the hope of the future but also the solution of today. The “Yun Xian Nong Program” stands as a flagship program reflecting Yunlin County’s commitment to fostering youth-driven innovation in agriculture. The program has successfully helped 45 young farmers’ brands upgrade their operations and 37 young farmers' products have been successfully listed on well-known e-commerce or retail channels. These achievements mark Yunlin’s shift from traditional production to active market participation.

While strengthening its agricultural transformation, Yunlin County is also aware that the key to success in climate governance and net-zero transition ultimately comes down to talent cultivation. Therefore, Yunlin County partnered with National Yunlin University of Science and Technology to establish Taiwan's first-of-its-kind Climate Sustainability Academy, which officially opened on May 16, 2025. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) demonstrates the commitment of industry, government, and research institutions to nurturing green-collar professionals. Yunlin's diverse efforts in agricultural transformation, carbon governance, talent development, and its holistic governance approach have garnered widespread recognition. In 2024, Yunlin was named as one of the Top 7 Intelligent Communities, the only Taiwanese county included in the global ranking, demonstrating the integration of smart governance and sustainable development. At the same time, Yunlin has also won several national and international recognitions, including the "Asia-Pacific and Taiwan Sustainable Action Awards," the "National Sustainable Development Awards," and the "Civil Service Outstanding Contribution Award," underscoring Yunlin County Government's governance excellence and execution capabilities.

While Yunlin's efforts in sustainable development and net-zero transition have been widely recognized both domestically and internationally, the county continues to pursue governance innovation. To address long-standing challenges faced by businesses and agricultural producers, such as duplicate certifications and data reprocessing, Yunlin County introduced a digital "One Test, Multiple Certifications" system. Through this initiative, businesses or farms need only one data submission and one inspection to simultaneously complete certifications for traceability, carbon footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions, reducing administrative burdens and costs. Beyond governance and system innovation, Yunlin also promotes circular agriculture, including the reuse of pineapple fiber from Gukeng Township; and in Dapi Township, which produces the highest volume of pickled mustard green, a professional team from the College of Life Sciences of National Taiwan University converted thousands of tons of high-salinity wastewater each year into aquaculture feed or liquid fertilizer. This initiative not only reduces processing costs but also enhances aquatic immunity, transforming agricultural waste into valuable resources. In addition, Yunlin is promoting the "Sea Wool" circular fashion economy, transforming recycled plastic bottles and blending them with powdered oyster shells to produce regenerated yarn. The eco-friendly yarn is used in uniforms of county government teams and local cultural and creative products. Currently, Yunlin's oyster shell recycling rate has reached 46%, and the plastic bottle reuse rate has reached 54%. This is not only environmentally friendly, but also the growing strength of Yunlin’s local brand identity.

This year, Yunlin County also launched Taiwan's first Sustainable Micro Lantern Festival, transforming the concepts of circular economy and net-zero waste into a captivating public art experience. Unlike traditional lantern events, the festival used no disposable materials. All lantern designs and installations were crafted from recycled resources, such as discarded oyster shells, reclaimed wood, and plastic bottle fibers, giving these materials a second life and realizing the fusion of art and environmental protection. More than just an event, the festival embodies a way of living and a commitment to sustainability. The Sustainable Micro Lantern Festival received the Gold Award at the 2025 IAA London Design Awards and the 2025 Rome Design Awards, becoming a significant representative work of local revitalization and net-zero aesthetics in Taiwan.

In response to climate change, Yunlin established Taiwan's first dedicated project office in 2021, creating a horizontally integrated governance framework. To ensure the implementation of transformational actions, the county also set up a "Net Zero Transformation and Integration Service Point of Contact.” In 2013, which was designated as the year to promote low-carbon lifestyles, an MOU was signed with National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and Nanhua University, and other institutions to establish a tripartite collaboration mechanism encompassing enterprise transformation, agricultural enterprise support, and academic collaborations, fostering a sustainable action network jointly driven by academia, industry, and government.

However, in addressing global climate change, the efforts of a single county or city alone remain insufficient. Therefore, Yunlin County has spearheaded the creation of a regional governance platform, uniting central Taiwan counties and cities to build a new model of cross-regional collaboration. In 2024, Yunlin participated in the 4th Taiwan Climate Action Expo hosted by Taichung City, a large-scale climate governance event themed "Taiwan's COP in Central Taiwan." Yunlin County, together with Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung City, Nantou County, Changhua County and Chiayi City, jointly signed the "Regional Climate Action Initiative," pledging to align with global net-zero targets under the guiding principles of science-based action and local participation.

Magistrate Chang expressed her gratitude to Business Today for the invitation, which provided an opportunity to share Yunlin County's transformation journey from agricultural sustainability to industrial transformation, energy circulation, cross-sector collaboration, and governance innovation. She emphasized that while Yunlin County is founded on agriculture, it is no longer confined to traditional roles. Through concrete actions and innovative cases, Yunlin County is redefining "local competitiveness" and "industrial resilience." From smart farm management to global climate initiatives, from waste resource utilization to recognition from international design awards, Yunlin is not only solving problems but also creating value, preserving the vitality of its farmland while paving a sustainable path for the next generation and sowing the seeds of happiness for Yunlin’s future.