Agricultural losses caused by the current water shortage have exceeded NT$400 million (US$14.07 million), with farmers in Pingtung County affected the most, Council of Agriculture data showed yesterday.
As of Friday, agricultural losses nationwide totaled NT$401.8 million, with the losses in Pingtung reaching NT$352 million, or 88 percent of the total, followed by Nantou County’s NT$21.42 million (5 percent) and Chiayi County’s NT$13.95 million (3 percent), the data showed.
Agricultural losses in Kaohsiung and Yunlin County were NT$13.62 million and NT$810,000 respectively, it showed.
Photo: Billy H.C. Kwok, Bloomberg
The production of mangoes, tea leaves, plums and onions has been hit hardest, the data showed.
The shortage has damaged 53 percent of the production of improved mango cultivars, meaning 977 hectares have not yielded fruit and losses have reached NT$307.8 million, it showed.
As for farms growing locally developed mango cultivars, 34 percent of planted areas have been affected, with losses reaching NT$23 million, the data showed.
The shortage has affected 16 percent of tea production with losses totaling NT$30 million, 31 percent of plum production with losses of NT$15 million and 33 percent of onion production with losses of NT$14 million, it showed.
From Tuesday, Miaoli County and Taichung are to only have water for five days per week.
Water supply to 74,000 hectares of farmland, mainly in the central and southern regions, has been suspended. Water would continue to be supplied to another 236,000 hectares of farmland, but there are concerns that it might be restricted soon.
If the shortage continues and water levels in rivers drop further, the council would consider drilling more than 500 wells to ensure supply to 236,000 hectares of rice farms, Irrigation Agency Director-General Tsai Sheng-fu (蔡昇甫) said yesterday.
In other news, farmers are facing a shortage of boxes for packaging.
Demand for boxes is surging as more farmers are exporting their products abroad and the international price of pulp is rising, Agricultural and Food Agency Deputy Director-General Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said.
Farmers in need of boxes should consult their local farmers’ association, he said, adding that after confirming the number of boxes required, the agency would negotiate with suppliers.
The farmers’ association in Yunlin’s Erlun Township (二崙) usually transports 60 tonnes of vegetables to an agricultural market in Taipei and uses more than 3,000 boxes per day.
A farmer complained that it sometimes takes them more than two weeks to get packaging boxes from suppliers, while it only used to take two or three days.
A box used to cost NT$35, but the unit price this month increased by NT$3 to NT$5, and the prices of vegetables remain low, association member Tsai Chin-hui (葉錦惠) said, adding that farmers are having a hard time.
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