“Innovation and Development Center of Sustainable Agriculture (IDCSA)” integrates advanced technology/facility for the improvement of fruit and vegetable long-term storage and stress resistance ability from extreme climate, warming, drought, heavy rain, cold…etc. This center includes four research areas and 13 projects in total to achieve Sustainable Agriculture.
The second phase of the Higher Education SPROUT Project (HESP) (2023-2027)
This center includes four research areas.
1.Circular Agriculture
As the global agriculture surplus materials and wastes are enormous, recycling and valorization has great potentials for soil carbon sequestration through application of innovative biotechnologies to develop soil carbon sequestration and carbon cycle technology, conversion of organic matter fertilizer products and biostimulants and other value-added products via zero-carbon emission routes to improve soil carbon sequestration and crop carbon sequestration.
2.Facility Agriculture
Advanced facilities would be developed to improve crop yield and quality through sensing and AI, and introduce information technology to build a management and decision-making collaboration model. Agricultural green energy, energy storage, smart grid, self-generated biosensing technology would be also developed to achieve energy conservation and carbon reduction, growth environment control and sustainable production in agriculture and animal husbandry.
3.Ecological Agriculture
As soils, wetlands and forests are the main areas of carbon sinks and are the most vulnerable to climate change, slope landscape, forest ecology, wetland environment and rural social fields would be integrated to overcome the current difficulties of agricultural development and ecological conservation strategy conflicts and ecological conservation difficulties caused by overdevelopment, and develop strategies and methods of ecological restoration, friendly agriculture and healthy rural areas with natural solutions based on the United Nations SDG15.
4.Technological Agriculture
Innovative technology would be developed to improve the carbon emission reduction and carbon sink increase in the crop production process, establish a management model for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure food security with novel biological pest control and resilient materials. Multi-source remote sensing imaging would be employed to provide information on soil carbon sinks, production, crop spatial distribution and greenhouse gas emissions from air, ground and underground fields, and construct Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential (SOCSP) data for Taiwan's soil carbon sink value, total and carbon trading market, supplemented by climate change-related laws and regulations in the process of human development.
The first phase of the Higher Education SPROUT Project (HESP) (2018-2022)
This center includes four research areas.
1.Recycling agriculture
Utilizing microorganism to reduce chemical fertilizer application, increase soil nutrients, crop stress resistance, yield and quality. Developing the shortest time consuming technology and automated process for the transformation of agricultural waste into high value compound through advanced biochemical technology.
2.Novel material agriculture
Solving the issue of food safety, environmental change and sustainable of environmental development through novel material technology. Research and development of environment friendly agriculture material, plant health care, retain freshness of agriculture products, crop physiological mechanism and safety evaluation.
3.Facility agriculture
Developing the innovate biosensor with autonomous power generation device to monitor the animal and plant growth environment. Building the infrastructure of intelligent agriculture and big data. Developing energy saving, storage facility and specific wavelength LED for the application of agriculture products sterilization and food safety.
4.Ecological agriculture
Integrating the relation between agriculture production and environmental factors, balance agricultural economy and ecological environment. Providing evaluation mechanism of value of ecological environment, biodiversity indicator, environment friendly on agricultural and reduced environmental disruption. Redefine the value of agricultural development.