Saving Vegetable Farmers: Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan Urges the Central Government to Launch Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief

Magistrate Chang Li-shan, Director-General of the Agriculture Department Wei Sheng-te, County Councilor Yu Shu-yun, and Erlun Township Farmers' Association General Manager Li Da-yan went to Erlun at noon yesterday (the 20th) to inspect the damage to leafy vegetables after days of heavy rain. Magistrate Chang Li-shan was heartbroken that the vegetable farmers' hard work had gone down the drain and that they had lost their entire capital, and urged the central government to promptly launch agricultural natural disaster relief to help vegetable farmers get through the difficult period.

Magistrate Chang Li-shan said that Yunlin County's vegetable output accounts for more than 40% of the national total. With the onslaught of days of heavy rain, leafy vegetables have suffered severe losses, with poor harvests reaching as high as 50%, leaving vegetable farmers with no one to turn to. Papayas have also been seriously damaged by the heavy rain, causing water injury to the fruit, falling, and rotting.

Magistrate Chang Li-shan called on the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan to include leafy vegetables in agricultural natural disaster relief as soon as possible. In addition, the county government, together with the Taichung Branch of the Agriculture and Food Agency and the township office, conducted an on-site inspection of the papaya damage. The current damage has already reached the standard for agricultural natural disaster relief, and it should be announced together with leafy vegetables as an area eligible for cash relief for agricultural natural disasters, so as to protect farmers' rights.

Magistrate Chang Li-shan pointed out that after the heavy rain, leafy vegetables suffered severe losses, and market supply fell by more than 40%. Vegetable prices rose slightly. Aside from being the result of the market's natural mechanism that "things are precious when they are scarce," it is also the result of many vegetable farmers' tears piling up. She called on consumers to understand farmers' hard work, buy and eat them, and encourage and support farmers through action.