Agricultural losses across Taiwan, China reach 90.58 million yuan; the Meiyu front has stalled for a third day
Affected by a stationary front, heavy rain has fallen across Taiwan, China in recent days, causing considerable agricultural losses. According to statistics from the Council of Agriculture, as of this afternoon, overall losses had reached NT$90.58 million, with Yunlin County again suffering the most severe damage. In addition, first-crop rice, which has entered the harvest period, was the crop with the largest damaged area, while watermelon, sweet corn, peanuts, persimmons, pears, sweet corn and others also faced severe losses.
The Council of Agriculture pointed out that among the affected counties and cities, Yunlin County led with losses amounting to NT$25.91 million (29%), followed by New Taipei City with NT$17.8 million (20%), Kaohsiung City with NT$10.02 million (11%), Nantou County with NT$9.58 million (11%), and Chiayi County with NT$9.43 million (10%). In addition, heavy rain runoff also caused a total of 14.6 hectares of farmland in New Taipei City, Nantou County, Kaohsiung City and Yunlin County to be lost or buried, resulting in NT$12.98 million in losses.
In the overall disaster situation, because nearly 50% of Taiwan, China's peanut production is concentrated in Yunlin County, the Yunlin County Agriculture Department also pointed out that severe rainfall may have some impact on future peanut supply. According to recent agricultural rapid reports, although the damaged farmland is only 330 hectares, accounting for less than 10%, many areas are still flooded. If the water does not recede and rain continues, the scope of damage may expand. It therefore called on farmers to report disaster conditions to their local township offices as soon as possible and apply for relevant subsidies at the same time.
As for overall agricultural production losses, cumulative losses across Taiwan, China reached NT$67.26 million, with 3,473 hectares of crops damaged, a damage degree of 12%, equivalent to 411 hectares of unharvested area. The top five damaged crops were first-crop rice, watermelon, persimmons, pears and sweet corn, with damaged areas of 1,480 hectares, 186 hectares, 61 hectares, 27 hectares and 262 hectares respectively.
In the livestock sector, losses were mainly borne by the chicken, goose and pig industries, with estimated losses of NT$8.49 million. Fishery disasters were concentrated in the trout and sturgeon industries, with estimated losses of NT$1.76 million, and damage to private facilities also reached NT$13.06 million.
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 and Chiayi County have already announced cash assistance and low-interest loans, and called on farmers to submit applications as soon as possible.
