The primary objectives of agricultural machinery are to ease farmers’ workload, lower production costs, maximize production yield during farming seasons, and to promote industrial upgrading through mechanization and automation. Our development directions in recent years included improving and introducing environmentally friendly machines, agricultural product processing machines, and farming and gardening machines.

Regarding environmentally friendly machines, to improve organic seedling quality, we developed a centrifugal warm-water sterilization machine for melon seeds, a continuous warm-water sterilization machine for rice seeds, and a continuous steam sterilization machine for the nursery soil of rice; the continuous warmwater sterilization machine for rice seeds won the silver award at the 2013 Taiwan National Invention and Creation Awards. These machines replaced the chemical agents used in traditional sterilization methods with physical sterilization methods, which is beneficial to organic farming, reduces damage to the environment, lowers production costs for farmers, and increases farmers’ revenue. In addition, to reduce and recycle waste, we developed single- and double-trough processors for organic and food waste, transforming the waste into organic materials by using a process involving grinding, heating, oil filtration, dehydration, and fermentation.

Regarding agricultural product processing machines, to improve the efficiency of the techniques used to treat the surface of rice grains, we modified the structure of the equipment to maintain the smoothness and color of the surface of the rice grains, and to reduce drying time and equipment requirements. Green onion cutters were developed to improve the quality of green onions after cutting and to reduce green onion juice excretion during cutting, which can create problems during processing operations. Arrow bamboo shoot shellers were successfully developed to improve the local aboriginal arrow bamboo shoot industry. Because these machines feature simple structures, high efficiency, low cost, and can effectively meet the shelling demands of bamboo farmers, they won the gold award at the 2012 Taiwan National Invention and Creation Awards conferred by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Regarding farming and gardening machines, we complied with adjustment plans for paddy and upland fields to develop a hanging type green manure seeder, which won the silver award at the 2011 Taiwan National Invention and Creation Awards. In addition, because the region was susceptible to extreme weather and typhoons, we introduced simplified and portable pillar joints that significantly reduced damage resulting from storms and typhoons. Furthermore, to comply with the farming systems adjustment policies, we proposed a hanging type dry field sower, which enabled seed sowing of various crops such as feed corn, soybeans, and wheat. To nurture highquality and healthy orchid seedlings and to eliminate concerns regarding the decomposition of culture mediums of orchid seedlings resulting from high temperature, we created a sterilization machine for microwave fluid culture mediums.

A tally of the agricultural machines that we have developed indicates that four of our products have received invention patients, and 18 have received new patents. Our technologies were transferred to the manufacturers for mass production to benefit farmers.