Drought fallow measures spark farmer discontent; Water Resources Agency stresses legal basis and that it is a last resort
The Ministry of Economic Affairs "Drought Disaster Emergency Response Team" resolved to suspend irrigation for the first rice crop in the irrigation districts of five farmland water conservancy associations: Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, and Chianan for next year (2015 [ROC year 104]), with a suspended-irrigation area of 41,576 hectares, the second-largest in history, sparking public resentment and county and city leaders blasting the central government. Farmers' movement groups criticized the government for favoring industry over agriculture and violating the principle that agricultural water use takes priority over industrial water use. To address this, the Executive Yuan this morning convened the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council of Agriculture for a press conference. In addition to stressing that it had long explained and communicated with the Council of Agriculture and county and city governments, the Water Resources Agency also stated that expanding the fallow program was truly unavoidable and had a legal basis.
However, regarding the central government's account, Lin Liang-mao, Director of the Agriculture Department of Chiayi County, said that so-called "communication" was merely the central government unilaterally notifying [localities] of the drought situation and promoting fallow land, with no concrete "discussion" of what response measures could be used in the face of drought. When localities face drought response, they are only in a position to be "notified". So-called communication should take into account "water-use justice" and, under climate change, how to wisely use farmland for production. Lin Liang-mao said that Zengwen Reservoir is in Chiayi County, yet Chiayi farmers cannot use it -- how unbearable is that?
Water Resources Agency: Fallow has a legal basis; had long held meetings with affected local governments
On compensation standards, the Water Resources Agency said that the compensation principles are set by the Water Resources Agency together with the competent agricultural authorities in accordance with the provisions of the "Directions for Coordination of Agricultural Water Dispatch and Use", and that the Water Resources Agency based them on the Council of Agriculture's use of the previous year (2013 [ROC year 102]) farm household income in the transferred areas as published in the government's latest Agricultural Yearbook, plus an additional five percent to reflect price growth; the detailed compensation content and implementation details are handled by agricultural units according to relevant mechanisms.
The Council of Agriculture stated that the suspended-irrigation compensation standards follow the calculation formula in the Ministry of Economic Affairs' "Directions for Coordination of Agricultural Water Dispatch and Use", calculating the per-hectare compensation standards for suspended irrigation and fallow for the first crop of next year (2015 [ROC year 104]): (1) fallow with green manure planting: 85,000 yuan; (2) fallow with plowing: 78,000 yuan; (3) conversion to other crops: 39,000 yuan. Funding sources are raised jointly by relevant ministries; for those planting green manure under this drought fallow, compensation is 85,000 yuan per hectare, of which the Council of Agriculture bears the general fallow payment, paying up to 45,000 yuan per hectare, with the remainder shared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other units. A total of 3 billion yuan in fallow funding is needed, with the Council of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Water Company each bearing half.
As for the losses of seedling growers, the Council of Agriculture will compensate seedling growers 1,500 yuan per hectare to assist with cold storage of rice seeds; for policy-based agricultural machinery loans, the repayment period will be extended by six months with interest waived.
The Council of Agriculture stated that the recipients of this drought fallow compensation are the current cultivators of the farmland; however, if the farmland is under a lease relationship, because the landlord has already collected rent, the suspended-irrigation compensation is paid to the actual cultivator (that is, the tenant), and the distribution ratio may be decided by both parties to the lease themselves, or handled according to the lease contract. Citing the 2010 [ROC year 99] drought fallow compensation as an example, when the subsidy was 80,000 yuan per hectare, the Council of Agriculture proposed a suggested distribution ratio of 45,000 yuan to the landlord and 35,000 yuan to the tenant, but the actual situation was left to both parties to decide, and there was no dispute.
Council of Agriculture: Rice-growing area accounts for 54% of the fallow zone; public grain stocks sufficient to cover
As for the food security issue everyone is worried about, the Council of Agriculture said that within the fallow zone, the rice-growing area accounts for 54%, totaling 22,000 hectares, which will affect 150,000 tons of paddy rice, equivalent to 120,000 tons of brown rice; there are still 870,000 tons of brown rice in public grain stocks and 330,000 tons of new rice, so food security is not affected.
The Council of Agriculture stressed that after the announcement and implementation of the suspended-irrigation fallow areas, the Council will consult with the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and each regional water resources bureau, the county and city governments in the respective areas, and farmland water conservancy associations and other units on the subsequent suspended-irrigation operational procedures and division of responsibilities, and will strengthen communication and outreach to farmers to ensure farmers' rights.