National Chiayi University

  Led by Associate Professor Pai-Tsang Chang and Assistant Professor Jiang Yi-Lu from the Department of Horticultural Science, NCYU, the teacher-student team Pomology Laboratory designed a series of checkpoint games. They hoped to put their professional knowledge into practice, and enable the young and old to learn about the characteristics of the Rutaceae plants through fun games. During the month leading up to the event, the students of the Department of Horticultural Science, NCYU, commited themselves to collecting citrus fruits from around Taiwan. The event aimed to introduce the visitors to the variety, origin, flavor, appearance, and taste of the citrus fruits, and, through the checkpoint games, treat all participants to a feast of citrus fruits that satisfied their sense of sight, sound, smell, taste and feel.
  According to Lin Chang-Li, Deputy Director of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, the Tainan Dong-Shan Property Prod. Co-Op has been working with the Pomology Laboratory, Department of Horticultural Science, NCYU in a cross-domain effort. In terms of secondary processing, they have developed various processed products using local agricultural products, provided three-level industrial activities such as in-depth fruit tree rural experience and ecological guided tours. All these help bring diversity to the rural industries, and attract consumers to be engaged in agriculture, and experience the beauty of rural production, life and ecology. The objectives of the Cross-domain Industry Project and the Rural Young Counseling Program are to promote diverse and sustainable development in the rural areas through a bottom-up networking approach.
  Jiang Yi-Lu, Assistant Professor of the Department of Horticultural Science, NCYU, indicated that the event created a networking platform for the local young farmer groups. By participating in real discussions on the implementation of the event, the students could learn more about the prospectives of the industry in advance, as well as hone their crisis management and communication skills. This would help improve the student autonomy, and allow the students to fully demonstrate their learning effectiveness in the professional courses by introducing the public to the professional knowledge.