The Industrial Technology Research Institute said that it has formed an alliance to expand light-emitting diode use in Taiwan’s agriculture sector.
According to the terms of the alliance, which involves ITRI and more than 70 electronic enterprises, farms and biotech companies, researchers agree to employ the latest LED technology in helping the economy’s primary sector cultivate high-value products.
LED products have different wavelengths that can be exploited to raise fruit and vegetable productivity in greenhouses, according to ITRI.
At the same time, developing the required LED applications will help local manufacturers by increasing demand for their products, it added.
“We believe the alliance will bring about a win-win situation and help Taiwan strengthen its agricultural competitiveness in the world,” said an official from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Chu Mu-tao, director of Optoelectronics Device and System Applications Division under ITRI Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories, said LED bulbs are energy efficient and can lower electricity consumption in farms.
“Under a program employing LEDs on white mushrooms in central Taiwan’s Nantou County, a grower saw his annual electricity fees drop from NT$150,000 (US$4,950) in 2009 to NT$60,000 in 2010,” he said.
Further LED installations are set for asparaguses, livestock farms and grouper fisheries in other cities and counties, according to ITRI.
MOEA officials said the alliance was formed in accordance to the government’s plans to promote collaborative ventures between the agricultural and high-tech sectors amid intense overseas competition.
