After working away from home for nine years, Chi-Zong decided to return to his hometown over five years ago to start farming. He named his seven-tenth-hectare dragon fruit orchard after his daughter’s nickname, “Nue Nue,” and is committed to eco-friendly farming practices. Chi-Zong says the main reason is his deep connection to the land. “If we lease the land to others, they would probably just try to maximize yield through heavy fertilization. I’d rather take care of it myself.” He adds, “My rule is simple: if I wouldn’t eat it, I wouldn’t sell it.” “The name Nue Nue also helps people remember us—even if they forget my name, they remember Nue Nue Orchard.”

With help from experienced mentors, Chi-Zong quickly grasped the basics. He began farming part-time before fully committing to it. “Luckily, when I attended a Farmers’ Academy class, the guy next to me happened to be a fruit farmer who also returned home to farm. He shared a lot of tips with me,” he recalls. “Taking the classes was useful, but meeting others was just as important.”

Chi-Zong was also selected as one of Taiwan’s Top 100 Young Farmers, which qualified him for mentorship and government support. “Originally, the Top 100 Young Farmers program was meant to identify those most in need of guidance,” he explains.

After years of effort, Nue Nue Orchard earned top honors in the 2018 and 2021 Changhua County Dragon Fruit Competitions. Chi-Zong now serves as president of the Fuxing Young Farmers Association, helping other young farmers returning home. In addition to farming, he is also learning how to write project proposals to support long-term development.

Beyond improving his production skills, Chi-Zong excels at organizing food and farming education experiences. Visitors of all ages enjoy hands-on, engaging lessons at Nue Nue Orchard. For example, he teaches people to judge a ripe dragon fruit by checking the top and bottom—if the skin is wrinkled, it’s ready to eat. “Just like humans, wrinkles mean ripeness,” he jokes.

“In Taiwan, consumers expect a lot—they want fruit that tastes great, is safe, and affordable. That’s a tough combination.”

“Right now, my annual revenue is still unstable. I’m experimenting with different business models and crop combinations. In farming, if income is low for two or three years in a row, it becomes very difficult to continue.”

“One challenge is that consumers don’t like buying directly from farmers. Even if they like your product and know your website, they’re still more comfortable ordering through e-commerce platforms.”

“If you want to work with big distributors, small farmers must form cooperatives—and even then, we have no pricing power. That’s the reality for small-scale farmers.”

“At the moment, my main sales still go through wholesalers, which means lower prices. So it’s not about producing more, but about building direct-to-consumer sales channels.”

Due to the pandemic this year, Chi-Zong helped organize a vegetable box initiative with other Fuxing young farmers. Since September, NCCU’s 50+1 program has started listing Fuxing’s young farmer products online. Meanwhile, renovations on his farm’s food education space are now complete, and he looks forward to the future development of Nue Nue Orchard.

Nue Nue Orchard Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NueNueFruit/