February 17, 2011

Taiwan to use rice in animal feed to stabilise supply

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture (COA) plans to allocate 65,000 tonnes of its old rice reserves to be used as raw material for livestock feed to stabilise the feed supply in the country, council officials said Wednesday (Feb 16).

The old-crop rice will be sold to owners of pig, duck, goose and other livestock farms at 10% below the cost of imported corn, the council said.

According to the COA, the average price of imported US corn at Kaohsiung harbour rose 27% to TWD9.92 (US$0.34)/kg in early February this year from TWD7.79 (US$0.26)/kg last June.

Sale of the rice buffer stock will begin in March at a price of TWD8.74 (US$0.30)/kg, in keeping with a decision made at a Cabinet-level meeting held Wednesday to discuss price stabilisation in Taiwan.

It was also decided that the COA will continue to monitor supply and trade conditions in the farming, fishing and livestock sectors, the Government Information Office (GIO) said.

Meanwhile, the cabinet-level Consumer Protection Commission will inspect prices regularly and continue its coordination with hypermarkets in the country to set up websites and special areas to sell goods at low prices, the GIO said.

Other decisions include stricter measures to clamp down on illegal hoarding and price gouging and close monitoring of price movements to ensure that domestic supplies of daily goods are not affected, said the GIO.

Furthermore, in response to fluctuations in the prices of domestic fertilisers and feed in reflection of raw material prices, the COA said it will keep a close watch on movements in the international market.

It will also actively promote rational crop fertilisation and offer advice to the fishing and livestock industries to ease the pressure on farmers, it said.