The Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (TTDARES) held the Millet Seedling Farming and Mechanized Cultivation Demonstration Course on August 11 in Chishang, which was attended by 18 farmers. TTDARES Director Chen Hsin-yen stated that millet is traditionally grown manually. However, due to the lack of human resources in Taitung’s Indigenous communities, the TTDARES has worked on developing many kinds of labor-saving machinery to be used for sowing, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting. Machinery used for seedling cultivation and transplanting not only reduces the amount of seed needed but also decreases the number of weeds that grow and thus compete with millet in its early stage of growth. Moreover, with the help of transplanting machinery, the amount of time required of a grower in the field has been reduced, making the overall workload easier, so growers save on both time and costs. Besides discussing the safe use of machinery in cultivation and transplanting, the classes also offered participants demonstrations in the field and the chance to operate the transplanting and sowing machinery themselves, allowing them to see and evaluate firsthand the advantages of mechanized growing. The concerted effort of the TTDARES and Indigenous-community farmers is pushing the development of this important staple for local Indigenous communities.
