An investment of NT$1.05 billion (US$34.3 million) would be made over three years to help chicken farmers upgrade chicken coops and make sites more sanitary, the Council of Agriculture said on Friday.
Taiwan has 2,118 chicken farms collectively raising 44.92 million chickens, of which 1,588 farms — or 75 percent — raise fewer than 50,000 chickens per farm, the council said, adding that about 70 percent of those 1,588 — or 1,111 farms — have open-air coops.
Subsidies of NT$4.5 million would be given to chicken farms with open-air coops that raise 50,000 or fewer chickens to upgrade to enclosed coops, whereas NT$10 million would be given to farms upgrading to enclosed coops with evaporative cooling systems, Animal Husbandry Division Director Chang Ching-wei (張經緯) said.
Photo: CNA
The council would also provide NT$1 million to NT$5 million in equipment subsidies, as well as a maximum of NT$5 million in anti-pollution subsidies, Chang said.
All subsidies would be processed as agricultural policy loans, Chang added.
Farms with 50,000 or more chickens that apply for loans would have a two-year interest-free waiver, Chang said, adding that if owners import entire sets of automated machinery and provide proof, the council would waive import taxes.
Policy-oriented loans can provide up to NT$50 million at an interest rate of 1.415 percent, which is better value compared with average coop restructuring loans, which offer NT$40 million at a 1.665 percent interest rate, Chang said.
Loans would be available to farmers next month, and the budgeted funding would be enough to finance coop upgrades for 200 farms, Chang said.
The upgraded chicken farms could serve as a model and encourage the 1,000 small and medium-sized chicken farms to follow suit, the council said.
The policy would stabilize the egg supply in Taiwan, Taiwan Egg Marketing Cooperative Director-General Wu Tian-fu (吳天福) said.
The egg industry has been hard-hit by climate change and egg-laying rates — which used to be 80 percent to 90 percent of all chickens — have dropped to 65 percent to 70 percent, Sinsing Eggs manager Tu Wan-tsai (涂萬財) said.
Eggs are vastly underpriced for egg farmers, Tu added.
The council’s subsidies would benefit the duck farming industry, Taiwan Duck Raising Association secretary-general Chu Feng-lin (朱峰麟) said.
Many duck farmers would be interested in applying for the subsidy, as it would introduce modern technology into the industry and make it more competitive, Chu said.
Measures have been taken to minimize damage from Chinese espionage, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday, in response to an alleged plan to deliver a Chinook helicopter to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese-language CTWANT magazine earlier in the day reported that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) was approached by Chinese officers with an offer to evacuate his family to Thailand in the event of a cross-strait conflict. In exchange, Hsieh was asked to fly a CH-47F Chinook helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait, the magazine said. Hsieh initially declined, but accepted after he was
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
RSS