The central government should compensate losses that a farmers' association in Hualien County incurs when it exports locally grown "Fu Lee" rice (
According to Tu Lee-hua (
As Fu Lee rice is exported to Japan at a much lower price than its production cost, the local farmers' association has to absorb a noticeable price shortfall, resulting in losses to the association, Tu said.
Hualien County Magistrate Hsieh Shen-san (謝深山) also viewed the issue as being extremely unfair to local farmers and residents, Tu said.
Fu Lee rice is exported to Japan at a price of NT$22 (US$0.67) per kilogram, Tu said, adding that the local farmers' association purchases the rice from local growers at around NT$25 per kilogram to guarantee their earnings, and that the difference was absorbed by the association.
Tu added that although the farmers' association was willing to cooperate with the government's policy, the losses had put a heavy financial burden on the local unit and it keenly hoped the Council of Agriculture (COA) would help reduce the financial strain by providing reasonable subsidies.
Tu also criticized COA officials, saying they'd failed to gain a reasonable price for Fu Lee rice in negotiations with Japan.
The failure was the root cause of the association's mounting losses, Tu said.
Amid a drive by the central government since 2004 to sell high quality domestic rice to Japan, Fu Lee rice -- produced in eastern Hualien County -- was the only variety that passed a total of 127 tests for exports to Japan, Tu said.
Taiwan-produced rice has become more popular in Japan in recent years, in particular the varieties cultivated in eastern Taiwan, an official of the COA's Agriculture and Food Agency said on Monday.
The official added that he believed the nation's fine quality rice would be able to seize a bigger slice of the highly stringent Japanese market in two or three years.
Taiwan is one of 15 countries whose rice has gained the approval of the Japanese authorities to enter the Japanese market, he said.
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