Drought and wildfires have caused a 20 percent drop in Russia’s wheat harvest this year, prompting the Russian authorities to ban cereal exports. The export ban has sent global grain prices soaring, bringing concerns about food security to the fore once more.
It is ironic, then, that farmlands in Dapu Village (大埔) in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Towship (竹南) along with the Siangsiliao (相思寮) area of Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林) are being expropriated for conversion to industrial use. This whittling away of fertile land is a long-term trend, but Taiwan’s government has not paid much attention to it.