The groundbreaking ceremony for the Smart Pig House Renovation Project at the Animal Experiment Farm of the College of Agriculture, National Chiayi University (NCYU), was held on May 27 and presided over by President Han-Chien Lin. The ceremony underscored NCYU’s ongoing commitment to an enhanced teaching environment, a stronger research foundation, and closer connections with industry. Jointly funded through additional allocations from the University Endowment Fund and subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture, the project has a total renovation budget of NT$33,605,113. Existing facilities will be renovated and upgraded to improve housing conditions, animal welfare, biosecurity, and smart management. The project will also support teaching, research, and industry-academia collaboration by creating a more comprehensive animal experimentation and training facility, thereby enhancing students’ hands-on learning experiences and research capacity. Upon completion, the facility will become a modernized site featuring smart systems, environmental control, enhanced animal welfare, and high biosecurity, marking another important milestone in the teaching and research development of NCYU’s College of Agriculture.
Dean Rong-Show Shen of the College of Agriculture noted that the Animal Experiment Farm covers approximately five hectares and has been in operation for more than 42 years since its establishment in 1984. Its existing facilities can no longer fully meet the needs of modern livestock production, management, teaching, and research. As the global livestock industry moves toward smart technologies, energy conservation, carbon reduction, animal welfare, and biosecurity, the construction of a new pig house featuring high operational efficiency, intelligent monitoring, and animal welfare-oriented design has become both necessary and urgent. As pig farming is one of Taiwan’s key livestock industries, the Animal Experiment Farm serves not only as a key site for research and development but also as a demonstration facility for teaching and industry-academia collaboration. Advancing smart technologies at the farm will play a significant role in helping students better understand emerging industry trends while accelerating the modernization of the livestock industry.
The Smart Pig House, which broke ground at the ceremony, will cover 1,230.8 square meters and accommodate approximately 600 pigs. The overall design incorporates segregated management zones to reduce the risk of cross-infection among pigs in different areas. It will also feature a smart environmental monitoring system and an anomaly alert mechanism to monitor temperature, humidity, ventilation, and housing conditions in real time, helping improve management efficiency and the quality of animal health care. In addition, the housing system combines group housing with individual feeding, balancing management efficiency while placing greater emphasis on sow welfare. This design reflects NCYU’s comprehensive commitment to professionalism, ethics, and sustainability in the development of its teaching and research facilities.
NCYU expects the Smart Pig House, once completed, to provide stronger support for teaching, research, and industry-academia collaboration. It will also help strengthen students’ professional competencies and career competitiveness by providing them with hands-on experience with modern livestock facilities and management practices during their studies. NCYU will continue to focus on teaching innovation, research advancement, and industry engagement as it creates a more forward-looking and practice-oriented agricultural education environment. The university will also contribute to cultivating talent for Taiwan’s smart agriculture and modern livestock industries.
Photo 1: NCYU
President Han-Chien Lin delivers remarks at the Smart Pig House groundbreaking
ceremony, encouraging continued enhancement of teaching, research, and
industry-academia collaboration.
Photo 2:
President Han-Chien Lin joins distinguished guests in marking the official
commencement of the Smart Pig House renovation project.