Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday urged the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to revise agricultural disaster relief regulations in response to increasing agricultural losses due to extreme weather.
Many instances of crop damage seemingly caused by pests, diseases or wildlife intrusions were attributed to poor field management, but were actually consequences of abnormal weather, they said, adding that regulatory improvements were needed to ensure farmers’ livelihoods.
DPP Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) said the Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief Regulations (農業天然災害救助辦法) does not include crop losses due to “non-natural disasters” such as acid rain, viruses or monkey damage.
Photo: Taipei Times
Such losses are highly related to climate change and cannot be resolved simply with technical assistance, she said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) said farmers in Pingtung County saw severe crop losses due to intrusions by green iguanas, sika deer and macaques.
Papayas grown in the county are also facing a mite infestation that might hinder this year’s harvests, he said.
DPP Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said the majority of the farmland in Changhua County’s Baguashan Mountain Range (八卦山) planted with longans, lychees or coffee is infested with cocoa black ants.
DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that coffee and bamboo shoot farmers in Chiayi County’s Alishan (阿里山) are facing serious crop damage from Formosan rock macaques.
DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that crop losses have to be resolved through agricultural risk prevention instead of field management.
Extreme weather conditions such as heavy rainfall or drastic temperature changes were the main causes of such pest infestations, diseases or abnormal wildlife behaviors, and have led to agricultural losses, he said.
Dismissing such issues as poor field management would lead to more pesticide or fertilizer use, which would not only increase farm expenses, but be environmentally unfriendly, he added.
Chung called on the ministry to establish an agricultural insurance system to help agricultural workers transfer the risk of climate change-related losses.
Data should be collected to help develop insurance policies, he said, adding that a subsidy budget should follow to make the insurance more accessible.
Farmers’ Service Department Director Chen Yi-jen (陳怡任) said the regulations do not include monkey damage and pest infestation, but expert meetings could be held to explore disaster relief eligibility if extreme weather-induced pest infestation led to crop losses.
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Nature Conservation Management Division deputy head Cheng Yi-chuan (鄭伊娟) said the agency has explored the feasibility of developing a insurance policy for wildlife-induced damage along with the Agricultural Finance Agency and insurance companies.
Adequate data is critical to establishing such insurance policies, she said.
Data on crop damage caused by macaque or wild boar intrusions are being collected and a report system would also be developed, she added.
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