The Ministry of Agriculture has launched a series of drought-response measures as rainfall in central and southern Taiwan has fallen to its lowest level in decades, with officials warning that conditions in some areas are particularly severe.
Rotational irrigation has been introduced in hard-hit Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, where water would be supplied for three days and cut off for three, a measure expected to save up to 30 percent of water.
The ministry has also extended the deadline for farmers to apply to switch from rice to miscellaneous grains to Wednesday next week.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday told the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee that rainfall since last autumn and winter has reached lows not seen in about five decades.
Data from the Central Weather Administration (CWA) show that over the past three months, central and southern Taiwan have experienced severe drought conditions, while Hsinchu and Miaoli have received only about 10 percent of their usual rainfall for the period, he said.
Earlier this month, the ministry formed a task force with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to coordinate response efforts, Chen said.
Water demand pressure in southern Taiwan has eased after the planting of the first rice crop — typically the most water-intensive — was completed, he said, adding that conditions in Hsinchu and Miaoli remain acute.
With some paddies in those areas still in the transplanting stage, authorities have also deployed mobile water tankers and activated drought-relief wells to support irrigation, particularly in areas at the tail end of canal systems, he said.
Regarding whether farmers would be asked to leave fields fallow, Chen said the ministry would rely on a range of measures to manage the drought.
Separately, recent infrastructure upgrades — including links between northbound and southbound irrigation systems and the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) network — have increased annual flexible water supply by 70 million tonnes, reducing the risk of irrigation cuts affecting 74,500 hectares of farmland, CWA data showed.
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