Wuhan pneumonia 0313"Council of Agriculture's 3.5 billion relief and revitalization plan, military and school lunches add extra vegetables to absorb selling pressure, flower industry urgently needs rescue

As COVID-19 (commonly known as Wuhan pneumonia) continues to rage, the Council of Agriculture has rolled out its latest agricultural guidance measures, approaching the situation from three major directions: epidemic prevention, relief, and revitalization. For relief targeting short-term leafy vegetables and pork, starting March 16, additional servings will be provided through school nutritional lunches and military meals to reduce market supply and stabilize market prices.

For the severely impacted flower industry, the Council of Agriculture plans to hold floral displays at urban scenic spots and transportation hubs across Taiwan from April to October, and will subsequently match flower businesses with e-commerce platforms and diverse physical retail channels. Regarding farmers panic-buying fertilizer, the Council of Agriculture stated that starting March 16, if farmers cannot find fertilizer in stock, they can register for pre-orders with their ID at local farmers' associations and fertilizer dealers, and Taiwan Fertilizer Company will supply within one week. Taiwan Fertilizer Company emphasized that under normal fertilizer use conditions, supply will absolutely be sufficient.

3.557 billion for revitalization, relief, and epidemic prevention; relief first targets short-term vegetables, pork, flowers, and fertilizer

The Legislative Yuan passed the special relief budget bill on its third reading this morning, totaling 60 billion yuan, with the Council of Agriculture receiving 3.557 billion yuan. This will be used for three major directions: revitalization, relief, and epidemic prevention, with 3.255 billion yuan for revitalization, 231 million yuan for relief, and 71 million yuan for epidemic prevention.

Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Jun-ji explained that for revitalization, efforts will focus on expanding overseas markets, e-commerce online shopping, and guidance for leisure agriculture and incentive travel; for epidemic prevention, efforts will focus on strengthening cleaning and disinfection at key wholesale markets, sales locations, fishing ports, and industrial parks, as well as strengthening monitoring of pathogens related to wildlife and humans.

Regarding relief, Chen Jun-ji stated that the Council of Agriculture offers 18 items totaling 6.8 billion in preferential interest rate loans, with some loans receiving one-year interest-free terms or partial interest subsidies. Additionally, on February 6, response measures were already implemented for items exported to China such as sugar apples, pineapples, grouper, and fourfinger threadfin. Currently, prices for pineapple sugar apples and fourfinger threadfin have stabilized, but some industries continue to be affected by the epidemic. Relief will first target short-term vegetables, pork, flowers, and fertilizer with guidance measures.

Short-term leafy vegetables: Military and school nutritional lunches add extra servings and supply to charitable organizations; plowing under only as a last resort

Short-term leafy vegetables are currently in peak production season. According to statistics from the Agriculture and Food Agency, the harvest area for short-term leafy vegetables in March is 569 hectares, with main items including bok choy, Taiwanese bok choy, rapeseed, non-heading lettuce, and amaranth. Fruit and vegetable market data shows that current daily trading volume of short-term leafy vegetables is 300 metric tons, but prices have been declining since February.

Chen Jun-ji stated that recent weather has been stable and vegetable production steady, but domestic consumer market contraction and reduced gatherings have caused a sharp drop in demand for short-term leafy vegetables. The Council of Agriculture has proposed four major measures for relief. These include adding extra servings to military and school nutritional lunches, supplying charitable organizations, and plowing under, which together can absorb 79.76 metric tons per week, reducing market trading volume by approximately 5%. Chen stated that among the four measures, plowing under will only be initiated if the first three measures cannot stabilize the situation. "Plowing under is a pity; we hope vegetables can still serve their purpose as food."

Ministry of National Defense adds extra servings twice per week; nutritional lunches add one leafy vegetable dish per week

Chen Jun-ji stated that for school nutritional lunches, costs will be coordinated and shared with local governments; for military meals, the Agriculture and Food Agency will coordinate with 26 military supply stations to make purchases on the principle of not displacing originally supplied vegetables. The Council of Agriculture will coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense to increase the food procurement budget, with extra servings capped at twice per week, expected to absorb 48 metric tons of leafy vegetables per week.

Regarding school nutritional lunches, the Yunlin County Government, the largest production area for short-term leafy vegetables, requested assistance a few days ago. The Council of Agriculture will add one leafy vegetable dish per week to current school nutritional lunches, and will implement or suspend based on supply and demand conditions. Chen Jun-ji explained that school nutritional lunch menus have nutritional considerations, and to add extra dishes, nutritionists have been asked to redesign menus. The extra servings will particularly target remote schools with limited nutritional lunch budgets, expected to absorb 20 metric tons of leafy vegetables per week.

For charitable organizations, the Agriculture and Food Agency will coordinate with 20 charitable organizations, including food banks, to supply weekly based on demand, distributed by location, and adjusted or suspended based on demand and overall leafy vegetable supply and demand conditions, expected to absorb 11.76 metric tons of leafy vegetables per week.

Pork: Short-term increase in remote school nutritional lunches and military consumption; medium-to-long-term culling of low-yield breeding sows

Live hog supply is currently 143,000 head per week, an increase of 11,000 head compared to the same period in the previous five years. Auction prices have reached an average of 58.86 yuan per kilogram, a decrease of 14.5% compared to the same period in the previous five years. Chen Jun-ji explained that there is over-raising of pigs, and pork supply was already in excess. With recent consumption contraction and a decline in dining out, restaurant-use pork has dropped significantly, putting pig farming and pork industry operators in a production and sales crisis.

Regarding relief and guidance measures for the pig farming industry, Chen Jun-ji explained that at the current stage, low-interest loans will be provided to livestock farmers, remote school nutritional lunches and military consumption of domestic pork will be increased, industry groups will be incentivized to hold domestic pork promotion events, and Taiwan Sugar Corporation will be asked to stop supplying the meat market starting March 16. In the medium-to-long term, the culling of low-yield breeding sows will be accelerated to address the root problem of over-raising.

Flowers: Only Phalaenopsis shows export growth; other items decline; domestic sales drop nearly 20%

After reviewing the overall flower industry, the Council of Agriculture found that both domestic and export flower sales have been affected. In domestic flower wholesale markets, potted flowers and cut flowers saw revenue decline by 10-20% compared to the same period in previous years, and an additional 20% decline is projected for the next five months. Total export volume was 3,564 metric tons, a decrease of 15% from last year, but export value was 34,194 thousand USD, an increase of 5% from last year.

Why did total export volume decrease while export value grew? Lin Chih-hung, Deputy Director of the Council of Agriculture's International Affairs Department, explained that the top five flower exports by value are Phalaenopsis (65%), Oncidium (8.7%), Cymbidium (1.7%), Eustoma (about 1%), and Anthurium (about 1%). The reason total flower export volume declined while export value grew is that only Phalaenopsis export value increased while all others declined, and Phalaenopsis growth in total value exceeded the combined decline of other items, producing this phenomenon.

Affected by the epidemic in South Korea, Cymbidium export value decreased by 40% compared to the same period last year

Recent news reports indicated that Cymbidium exports have been affected. Lin Chih-hung stated that 97% of Cymbidium is exported to South Korea, with only 3% to China. The main issue is reduced export volume to South Korea. South Korean demand for Cymbidium is concentrated before the Lunar New Year. Since this year's New Year was in January, buying enthusiasm was concentrated and moved earlier to December last year. After February, the epidemic emerged in South Korea, along with consumption contraction and cancellation of large events, causing orders and flower demand to drop sharply after March.

Cymbidium export value decreased by 42.2% compared to the same period last year. Huang Li-chuan, Deputy General Manager of the Taiwan Flower Development Association, explained that although both are orchids, Phalaenopsis and Cymbidium are in very different situations. Phalaenopsis orders are mostly confirmed two years in advance, with low variability and long buffer time, and are mostly exported to Europe. However, Cymbidium's main markets are China and South Korea. The recent epidemic has affected buying enthusiasm, and South Korean air cargo flights have dropped sharply, causing orders to decline significantly.