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  • 2 days ago
Weeks of continuous downpours have inflicted massive agricultural destruction across southern Taiwan, totaling over US$2 million in losses since early June. Yunlin and Pingtung counties bore the brunt of the devastation, losing critical peanut yields and aquaculture crops to saturated soil and freshwater overflows. Local growers are now voicing mounting frustrations over competition for drying infrastructure and disaster relief policies as typhoon season looms.
Transcript
00:10A crop of spoiled peanuts in Yunlin, after weeks of continuous rain, drenched southern
00:17Taiwan. Yunlin County is one of the country's major sources of peanuts. Farmers are rushing
00:23to salvage the good ones, but spreading them out to dry becomes a new problem.
00:41In the coastal area, workers are sealing up breaches in several saltwater fish ponds
00:47to keep the overflowing gutters from pouring in more fresh water. The recent deluge has caused
00:52fish farmers massive losses. Not only were fish washed out of the ponds, but aquaculture
00:58crops like clams cannot survive in low salinity.
01:18Besides land and water crops, the recent spate of rain has also struck farms in Pingdong's
01:24mountains, where they grow a type of edible algae called nastak, or more commonly called
01:29witch's jelly. But there is no help available for local algae farmers.
01:47Over two million U.S. dollars in agricultural damages have been recorded across Taiwan since the
01:53beginning of June. Pingdong and Yunlin together account for over 70 percent of that amount.
01:59And with typhoon season just around the corner, farmers and authorities are anxious about what
02:05may come. Client Wong in I-Ringlin for Taiwan Plus.
02:08Client Wong in I-Ringlin for Taiwan Plus.
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