Government to mull raising rice prices, Ma says

OOD CRISIS:President Ma Ying-jeou said the price of rice had not been raised in the past three years due to the recession, but it could be raised in future

President Ma Ying-jeou, right, shakes hands with a farmer during a trip to Chiayi County yesterday.

Photo: CNA

The government will consider increasing the price of rice when commodity prices rise and it will augment reserve supplies in case of a shortage, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on a visit to Chiayi County yesterday.

Accompanied by Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) and former Chiayi County commissioner Lee Ya-jing (李雅景), Ma visited an award-winning rice farmer, Chuang Yu-chih(莊有志), in Putzu City (朴子) to take a look at his crop.

Ma said the agriculture council has been discussing a possible price increase since the price of rice was adjusted three years ago, from NT$21 per kilogram to NT$23 per kilogram.

The reason why the price was not adjusted in the past three years was because of the global financial crisis and the economic recession, he said, adding that a price increase amid rising prices in other commodities would be considered in the future.

While the last price increase was NT$2, Ma said he had called on the council to consider a steeper increase next time.

The main consideration behind a possible price increase is that the price of fertilizer and pesticides has risen along with other commodity prices, Ma said, adding that the increase in global food prices was also a contributing factor.

Meanwhile, reserves of rice were increased to 400,000 tonnes from 270,000 tonnes three years ago, he said.

Ma said that should a global food crisis occur, money would not be enough to ensure adequate food reserves.

Addressing the issue of groundwater extraction, Chuang said the problem of land subsidence should not be blamed on farmers alone.

Farmers usually use shallow-well water for irrigation, but land subsidence is the result of sand pumping and land reclamation, as well as the use of water from deep wells, he said, all of which have nothing to do with farming.

Farmers would eventually protest in front of the Presidential Office if they continue to be blamed for the problem, he said.

(Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/04/25/2003501648)