Searching for freedom through farming

Nowadays, a great deal of the farmland in and around Miaoli’s Dananpu area lies uncultivated. “By leaving the land fallow we receive about the same amount of money than if we cultivate the land, only, we don’t need to worry about typhoons or heavy downpours of rain around harvest time…in the end leaving the land fallow is more reliable”, said local farmers. Although the fields have been left unplanted, one can still see vegetables being grown all over the place, in the unplanted fields, on the embankments and at the roadside - any available space. This is an important tradition in any farming community, to reduce your reliance on local markets by utilizing resources at hand. “

If you were born and raised in the city, the absence of supermarkets would probably mean you would starve. However, in farming communities, neighbors tend to grow different kinds of vegetables and exchange them with each other”, said Lai Yong-hua from Dananpu Village Office. The office hopes to tap into the wealth of farming culture in the area. They intend to start growing ‘Tainan No. 15’, a variety with good market value and high yields, fetching a much higher market price than ordinary brown rice. If everything goes to plan, planting will take place on the 3rd of March, and any interested parties are invited to come along and participate – helping to bring back the health and vibrancy of Dananpu Village.

PeoPo 公民新聞

Searching for freedom through farming

URL:

http://www.peopo.org/portal.php?op=viewPost&articleId=98417

(以下為中文對照)

追求自由的農夫 ( 墨墨無名 )

苗栗大南埔的田地，目前大多處於漫草一片的休耕狀態，公民記者走訪當地農家，農家表示「休耕跟種田算起來，領到的錢都差不多，但是休耕比較好，不用煩颱 風、怕稻子出的時候下雨，休耕實領啊。」儘管大多田地都休耕了，還是可以看見有人在休耕的田裡、田埂上、馬路邊……，各式各樣的空閒空間種菜，「這是農家 節儉的傳統，利用手邊的資源盡可能減低對市場的依賴。如果你是活在都市的人，沒有超級市場就只能餓死，但農村裡面的阿婆不太買菜的，他們可能就跟隔壁大嬸 種不一樣的菜 來交換。」大南埔農村辦公室的賴咏華說。大南埔農村辦公室希望發掘農村價值與文化特色，他們這次要種的米是台南15號，巨胚的水稻梗型品種，營養價值比普 通的糙米還來得高。他們預計3月3號插秧，並邀請各地的朋友一起來共襄盛舉，讓大南埔的田地、農村恢復活力。

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