Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) The first-ever food security forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) opened in Taipei Wednesday, hoping to develop an action plan by the end of the three-day meeting, Taiwan's top agriculture officials said.
The forum will launch a discussion on establishing a regional food security mechanism, a pressing issue in light of climate change, said Chen Wu-hsiung, the head of the Council of Agriculture (COA) , which organized the forum.
The initiative was submitted by Taiwan, which uses the name of Chinese Taipei in APEC, in the APEC Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group last year, Chen said.
APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim Member Economies to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. According to the COA, 95 delegates from 20 economies are attending the three-day meeting that ends Aug. 20.
With respect to Taiwan's food security, Chen said the government is paying attention to the issue and has developed a complete strategic plan to tackle the problem.
The plan involves building safety stocks, combating climate change, improving agricultural production efficiency, and forging sustainable agricultural development, he said.
Taiwan has increased its annual stock of rice -- Taiwan's food staple -- from 300,000 tons to 430,000 tons, Chen said. Although Taiwan is only 30 percent self-sufficient in grains, the domestic supply of rice has been stable and most of Taiwan's food imports are grass crops.
The COA has been working on revitalizing fallow land and has successfully replanted 20,000 hectares of the 220,000 hectares of idle farmland in the country, according to Chen.
The ministry also plans to restructure the agricultural sector to focus more on producing field corn and lower-quality rice that can be grown quickly in large quantities in case of a food shortage.
"High-quality rice is already abundant in Taiwan," Chen said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls