Hundreds of farmers, who grow fruit in southern Pingtung County, yesterday protested in front of the Council of Agriculture to ask for reasonable compensation for financial losses caused by the strike of Typhoon Dujuan early this month.
In response, the council promised to compensate them an additional NT$5,000 for per orchard hectare damaged and issued a promise to increase next years' disaster relief budget.
After Typhoon Dujuan struck, fruit farmers in Pingtung County received NT$35,000 compensation for each hectare of damaged orchards. Dissatisfied with that figure, southern farmers took an overnight drive north to the capital.
Yesterday morning, hundreds of farmers arrived at the council building angrily yelling slogans, such as "Farmers are not a burden to Taiwan" and "never be cheated by political parties again."
Police were on the scene and attempted to disperse the illegal protest.
Farmers carried a coffin to use as a ram against the gate of the building, an indication that this protest was make or break for the farmers. They also threw dried fruit-tree roots at the main entrance.
According to Kung Chin-fu (龔錦福), the director-general of Fangliao Association for the Promotion of Farmers' Rights, farmers will not be able to sustain themselves because fruit farms had been seriously damaged by Dujuan.
Kung said that northern farmers planting tea received NT$55,000 for each hectare of tea shrubs damaged by the drought but southern fruit farmers received only NT$35,000 per hectare damaged by Dujuan.
According to farmers, there will be no harvest for the next three to five years.
The farmers' demonstration gained support from legislators of differing parties.
In addition to raising the compensation to NT$40,000, council officials promised to investigate orchards covered by fallen wax-apple trees to see if more compensation should be arranged.
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