Dozens of farmers yesterday gathered in front of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to deliver a petition and protest against the ministry’s decision to stop supplying water for agricultural use.
The demonstration came after the Water Resources Agency said last week that it plans to stop supplying water to a total of 41,576 hectares of farmland nationwide in a bid to conserve about 409 million tonnes of water for household and industrial use, adding that it would be the largest irrigation cessation since 2004.
Green Party Taiwan member Lu Dong-je (呂東杰), who organized the protest, said that although the government would compensate farmers NT$85,000 per hectare, he doubts that farmers who rent would receive the money.
Photo: CNA
“Some landlords might not give the compensation to farmers. How do farmers survive if they cannot cultivate and do not receive the compensation?” Lu said.
Lu said the water shutoff could extend to the end of phase-one cultivation in June next year, which means that farmers would have to wait until July to start seedlings and until November to harvest.
“The measure would consequently leave farmers receiving their first income at the end of November next year,” Lu said, adding that the water supply suspension policy will not only make farmers’ lives difficult, but also affect the nation’s agricultural industry.
Agency Deputy Director-General Lai Bor-hsun (賴伯勳) accepted the petition from Lu, but did not make a response to the protesters, saying only that the agency would look further into the matter.
Agency Chief Secretary Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) said he understands farmers’ anxiety over the policy, but added that this is an inevitable decision to make to brace against the worst drought in the past decade.
“The agency will invite relevant agencies to discuss the issue as soon as possible, and offer an official response to the farmers’ request by [Friday next week],” Lai said.
The ministry scheduled another meeting on water supply issues on Jan. 15, to decide whether to suspend irrigation water from Miaoli County’s Chungkang Creek (中港溪), he added.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is