Taiwan Looking For Ways To Stimulate Rice Consumption

TAIPEI, April 4 Asia Pulse - The Council of Agriculture (COA) is trying to get Taiwan's people to eat more rice through unconventional means after President Ma Ying-jeou joked about such a need because large parcels of land around the country remain fallow

COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung said his agency wants to get people back in the habit of eating rice, long Taiwan's staple food, by marketing various rice products through diverse channels in cooperation with the private sector.

One result of the new approach are the refrigerated Japanese-style rice balls and sushi currently being sold at 7-Eleven convenience stores, which have been produced with technology provided by the council that makes them taste better and fresher.

Backed by that success, Chen said, the council is experimenting with new technology hoping to create new food items made of rice that will appeal to local consumers.

The council has set an initial goal of lifting the annual average per-capita rice consumption in Taiwan from about 48 kilograms to 48.5 kg in 2011, 50 kg in 2013 and 51 kg in 2014.

If every Taiwanese were to eat an extra mouthful of rice every day, it would help lift the country's rice consumption by 23,000 tons per year, the COA said.

Rice consumption in Taiwan has fallen in recent years in Taiwan due to the increasing diversity of local diets.

According to COA statistics, the average Taiwanese ate only 48.1 kg of rice in 2009, compared with an average of 58.5 kg consumed in Japan.

Around 5,600 hectares of rice paddies around the country are not being cultivated at present because of the weak demand.