The nation is about 31 percent food self-sufficient and can last for three months in any national security threat, Council of Agriculture Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) said yesterday during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The council hopes to elevate the figure to 40 percent by 2020 through its Great Granary Program, Lin said in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).
Due to changes to dietary habits, domestic supply of rice has exceeded demand, Lin said, adding that the council is working to adjust the production levels of different produce.
Under the program, the council is seeking to increase grain production by 300,000 tonnes and the production area by 30,000 hectares before 2020, while helping rice farmers grow other produce such as sweet potatoes, soybean, buckwheat and corn, he said.
Legislators on the Economics Committee raised concerns about the council’s ability to protect farmland.
The nation should have about 740,000 to 810,000 hectares of farmland to guarantee food supplies, but only 684,819 hectares are usable, council data from August showed.
New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) asked Lin to clarify his position on Taiwan Sugar Corp’s (Taisugar) land use, considering that half of the utility’s property is quality farmland.
“Quality farmland should be reserved for agricultural use, especially that of Taisugar,” Lin said.
The council supports the Environmental Protection Administration’s proposal that development on Taisugar land larger than 1 hectare should undergo an environmental impact assessment, he added.
However, some of Taisugar’s land is in urban areas and not necessarily quality farmland, Lin said, adding that the council would respect other authorities’ decisions regarding development.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) criticized the council’s failure to tackle banana overproduction, as there are still 70,000 tonnes of bananas to be sold, despite the government’s purchase of 1,200 tonnes.
The production area of bananas was severely damaged by typhoons last year, but production this year has grown 20 percent, causing prices to plummet.
Lin said that the council would help farmers access information through the council’s production and marketing platform, so they would know next year’s price to adjust production.
Cabbage and dragon fruit are also likely to be overproduced in the fourth quarter, he said, adding that the council is closely observing their production.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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