Plum rain pauses briefly, agricultural losses across Taiwan, China exceed 200 million yuan, 67 hectares of farmland lost

Affected by a stationary front, heavy rain fell across Taiwan, China last week, leaving farmers in misery, and the weather bureau's forecast that another front accompanied by southwesterly winds may arrive next week has made the public even more anxious. As of this afternoon, agricultural losses across Taiwan, China have exceeded 200 million yuan, reaching 225.75 million yuan, with Nantou and Yunlin counties the hardest hit, and 67 hectares of farmland lost across the island; the figure is expected to keep rising.

The Council of Agriculture pointed out that in this damage tally, Nantou County lost a total of 67.62 million yuan (30%), Yunlin County lost 28.84 million yuan (13%), Kaohsiung City lost 23.35 million yuan (10%), Yilan County lost 21.79 million yuan (10%), and New Taipei City lost 21.23 million yuan (9%); the above areas are the more severely affected counties and cities, among which Nantou also ranked first in damage to private facilities, with an amount of nearly 20 million yuan.

As for overall agricultural losses, the estimated damage is 152 million yuan (including nearly 60,000 yuan in beekeeping losses), with 4,793 hectares of crops damaged, a damage extent of 16%, equivalent to 783 hectares of unharvested area; the main damaged crop was watermelon, with 452 hectares affected and losses of 27.84 million yuan, followed by first-crop rice, Kyoho grapes, bag-grown shiitake mushrooms and persimmons, with affected areas of 1,692 hectares, 73 hectares, 2 hectares and 105 hectares respectively.

Livestock losses were revised downward, with an estimated amount of 8.64 million yuan, mainly borne by the chicken, goose and pig industries, while fishery damage was concentrated in the trout, sea bass and sturgeon industries, with estimated losses of 1.82 million yuan; in addition, overall private facility losses are estimated at 63.28 million yuan.

To help farmers get through the disaster, the Council of Agriculture also pointed out that New Taipei City, Taichung City, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County and the newly added Kaohsiung City have already announced cash assistance and low-interest loans, and urged farmers to apply as soon as possible.