Tears of the rice farmers!

With more than six thousand hectares of cultivated rice fields in Taitung County, rice is an important economic lifeline for farmers in the area. However, this year, due to a fluctuation in temperature and above normal rainfall, the incidence of rice blast and panicle blast are much more serious than in the past.

Although the Council of Agriculture has already formally announced that Chishang (池上), Haiduan (海端), Guanshan (關山), Luye (鹿野), Changbin (長濱), Donghe (東河) and Taitung City (臺東市) will be eligible for compensation, the application process is both tiresome and complicated, leaving farmers in a no-win situation. When recently the districts of Chishang and Guanshan entered the rice-harvesting period, many farmers lamented: "A great deal of tears will be shed during this season’s harvest!" As eligibility for panicle blast subsidies requires that over 80% of one’s crop is damaged, many farmers seem set to face a great deal of severe hardship and tears in the weeks to come.

PeoPo 公民新聞 by 欖仁居修行生活網

Tears of the rice farmers!

URL:http://www.peopo.org/news/112715

(以下為中文對照)
現在割稻的人都是要掉眼淚的！

照片

台東縣水稻種植面積超過六千公頃，是台東農民重要的經濟命脈。但是今年一期作水稻因溫度高低不定、雨量偏多，稻熱病及穗稻熱病的發生都較以往嚴重許多，雖然經農委會核定公告池上、海端、關山、鹿野、長濱、東河及臺東市等地區受理專案補助申請，但是標準嚴苛，手續繁複，農民真的是萬分無奈。近日池上關山地區已經開始進入一期稻作的收割時期，但是農民卻感嘆的說：「現在割稻的都是要掉眼淚的人」！因為穗稻熱病的補助要受害穀子達八成以上比例，農民面對政府的說法真是欲哭無淚。

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