For a long time rural villages have faced the exodus of young labor and an aging population. In 2006 the average age of producers in crop and livestock production 61 years. The aging trend has been increasing. The proportion of farmers over 55 roses from 30.6 percent in 1990 to 46.4 percent in 2007. As the aging problem will interfere with the adoption of new technologies and new concepts, the COA already included an agricultural work forces revitalization programs in the New Agriculture Movement, hoping to infuse new blood into agriculture in order to speed up the modernization of agriculture.

1. Wandervögel Project
   The Wandervögel movement started in Germany in the late 19th century. It was a back-to-nature movement that combined training, experience and recreation. The COA emulated this movement to attract young people engage in agriculture. The project provides stepwise training camps for the age group of 18 to 35 to experience, learn and participate in agricultural operations so that they may be closer to agriculture, know more about agriculture, and identify with agriculture. Hopefully, they can be “resident birds” in agriculture at the end.
   In the first phase, camps were specifically designed for crop production, fish catching, university students, and agricultural scholars. During the year, seven district agricultural research and extension stations (DARES), the Fisheries Agency, and seven universities and colleges conducted 73 five-day camps, which attracted 1,616 participants. Among them, 94.6 percent were satisfied with the programs, and 360 trainees already chose to engage in agricultural operations
   The second phase was designed to provide advanced training in such promising fields as vegetable production under protective structures, potted flowers, orchids, mushrooms, organic agriculture, recreational agriculture, herbal plants, marine ornamental fish, and grouper fry culture. The COA's Seed Improvement and Propagation Station, several DARES’s and the Fisheries Research Institute’s Tungkang Biotechnology Research Center conducted 20 training camps with 432 trainees. Among these trainees, 92.0 percent were satisfied with the training activities, and 47.2 percent expressed their interest in starting agricultural businesses within the next three years.
   The third phase was designed for the young people who are engaged in the agricultural business. The workshops focused on specialized knowledge, loan applications, technical counseling, and farmland banking.
   Apart from these training camps, a website (http://academy.coa.gov.tw/) was constructed, a special volume on the Wandervögel Project published, and seven reunions of alumni conducted.

2. Master Gardener Project
   The Master Gardener Project was designed for people over 35 who plan to engage in agriculture. The 12 DARES’s conducted 85 five-day training workshops. In total 2,670 trainees completed their training. Among these trainees, 97.0 percent were satisfied with the training activities, and 38.5 percent expressed their interest in starting an agricultural career. A follow-up questionnaire showed that 435 had already been in the agricultural business.
   The COA also provides opportunities for the graduates of this project to undergo advanced training in specialized subjects such as managerial skills and technical counseling. The Food and Agriculture Agency also created a website to serve the graduates. Moreover, they are qualified for loans from the government.

3. Deep Plowing Project
   The Deep Plowing Project targets agricultural operators by providing systematic education programs to improve their management proficiency in different sub-sectors, and to speed up agricultural transformation. The curricula for 2007 were separated into two categories: the first focused on traceability and certification systems and sanitary management, and the second on quality control, marketing planning and trade, and branding and its management. There were 74 classes in for the first category and 24 classes in the second category with a total of 4,022 trainees. In addition, each DARES assigned one agricultural management specialist to provide continuing technical counseling to those graduates that operate within its region.

4. Earthing-up Project
   The Earthing-up Project is for the re-construction of rural villages. Six training units were set up in the different parts of the country. They were assigned to devise and conduct three different levels of training workshops to meet the specific needs in different localities. Since 2004, 510 training workshops have been held with 13,466 participants. The response to this project was swift and positive throughout the country. The project also trained a core of dedicated villagers as grass-root motivators for the re-construction of their rural villages. Up to now, 399 persons have gone through this training process and will be leaders in rural development.

5. Narrowing digital gap
   To accelerate the modernization pace in agriculture, narrowing the digital divide is imperative. Agri-producers across the country are being urged to brush up their computer skills to rise to the new challenges posed by WTO accession. The need to obtain state-of-the-art technology and timely marketing information and to maintain up-to-date business operation records for the agri-producers has never been greater. Toward this goal, the COA established 17 education centers, developed computer-based curricula in 40 different subjects, set up online learning centers, and prepared training manuals. Three books have been published to record and further promote this endeavor. Training courses were offered at different levels. In 2007, 591 trainers were trained, and 227 classes for agri-producers were conducted. In three years a total of 1,180 classes turned out 23,000 trainees in total.