A first for Taiwan, China! Drones speed up disaster surveys: 380 hectares of damaged rice paddies in Qishan and Meinong photographed in a single day, ready for harvest the next day

Yesterday (the 20th), the plum rain front moved southward, and between 3 and 4 p.m. the Qishan and Meinong area of Kaohsiung experienced rare strong winds and sudden heavy rain. Not only did a large billboard in the city fall and injure a motorcyclist, but it also caused severe lodging of rice that was at the harvest stage. The Council of Agriculture roughly estimates the damaged area at at least 380 hectares.

Once mature, unharvested rice lodges, it is prone to sprouting from soaking in water and high temperatures. In the past, farmers had to "preserve the scene" and could not harvest while waiting for disaster surveys; by the time the surveys were done and harvesting resumed, nearly all the rice grain was ruined. Chen Chi-chung, minister of the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, personally visited Meinong this afternoon (the 21st) to show concern for the disaster situation, and announced that tomorrow (the 22nd) drones will be deployed for disaster surveys for the first time, and the work can be completed that same day.

He stressed that "farmers only need to apply, and the supporting evidence is handled by the drones." Farmers only need to complete their declaration tomorrow, and the day after they can immediately carry out post-disaster harvesting, which let the farmers and district office personnel present breathe a sigh of relief.

News background: In the past, disaster surveys were carried out manually. Taking 300 hectares and six survey personnel as an example, it took at least three working days. Today, drones were test-operated on site for the media to film, and the result was that within 15 minutes they completed aerial photography of 80 hectares and 300 clear photos, and quickly completed the interpretation of rice area, zones, and corresponding farmer data.