6 October 2014, Focus Taiwan News Channel
Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) Agriculture chief Chen Bao-ji said Monday that importing farm workers is “inevitable” and that his Council of Agriculture will draft a national policy for that purpose “as soon as possible.”
Chen made his remarks during a meeting with a group of young farmers in Taoyuan in northern Taiwan, where he heard one person complain that the combined age of the three women working at his tea plantation exceeded 200.
“How much longer can they work for me?” the young farmer wondered.
Acknowledging that the labor shortage in Taiwan’s agricultural sector is a serious problem, Chen said changes are needed in the sector as members of the younger generation in rural areas do not want to work the land as did their fathers and grandfathers.