Setting cultivation plans
Unlike most farmers, Su does not focus on growing those vegetables that command the best market price. No matter how high the price of cabbage gets at any given time, she continues to set her own cultivation plans based on the growing seasons of different vegetables.
However, seedling firms were unable or unwilling to supply the seedlings she needed. After finding no sellers a few times, she finally decided to grow her own seedlings. It took her three years to be able to do this successfully.
Today, Su has systematized standard operating procedures for growing seedlings, and she makes her knowhow freely available on request. “Because I experienced so many failures, having been there myself I hope that this free information can help people who, like me, don’t have much money,” says Su.
Because she grows her seedlings and cultivates her crops according to a plan, she can provide a dependable supply to buyers. When you also consider that her farm has organic certification, it is no surprise that when she joined a program for small farmers to deliver directly to PX Mart supermarkets, Pangcah Organic Farm was able to expand from selling to three stores to taking orders from 20.
“Where there is land there is work.” The dedicated efforts of Su Siou-lian are a real-life version of the saying “the spring wind can call the earth back to life, hard work can produce abundant harvests.”
Plant vaccines injected during asexual propagation of seedlings can make plants more resistant to environmental pests and diseases.
Su Siou-lian has broken through the barriers of tradition, a remote location, gender, and ethnicity to found an eco-friendly organic farm that generates inclusivity and sustainable development.
At Pangcah Organic Farm, space is set aside for growing wild plants. This is not only a way to preserve Amis culture, but also an expression of concern over climate change.
Organic vegetables grown at Pangcah Organic Farm are screened before being delivered direct to PX Mart supermarkets the same day.
Su Siou-lian extracts hearts of wild yellow rotang palm, which, after processing, will become a delicacy served in Taipei restaurants.
Seasonal vegetables are grown according to the farm’s cultivation plan.
Pangcah offers jobs to indigenous people, especially women. (photo by Jimmy Lin)