Taiwan’s temperatures are beginning to warm up after a cold spell that began Friday and led to agricultural losses of more than NT$400 million (US$13.3 million).
Early Tuesday morning still saw temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius north of Tainan. The coldest areas were Tamsui and Hsinchu at around 5 degrees Celsius.
But the weather warmed up again on Tuesday which saw sunny skies and temperatures of 18 to 20 degrees Celsius and even up to 22 degrees in the south. There will also be increased precipitation from Wednesday to Saturday.
The cold spell brought great losses to farmers. Tainan saw the greatest losses at more than NT$231 million followed by Yunlin and Miaoli. The crops that suffered the most damage were strawberries, ginger, tangerines, wax apples, and pears. There was also about NT$70,000 in losses of little ostriches and chickens. The fishing industry saw major losses with NT$327 million losses in milkfish, grouper, clams, and tilapia.
President Ma Ying-jeou held a national security meeting on Monday to enlist government agencies to help farmers with the damages. Ma went to Miaoli on Tuesday to meet with farmers and check on the damages to strawberry farms.