There are more than 20 million laying hens in Changhua County, accounting for 45% of the total number in the country. There are 1,387 terrestrial poultry farms. However, the Changhua Animal Defense Institute only has 4 anti-epidemic disinfection vehicles, which makes epidemic prevention difficult.

(Photo by reporter Chen Guanbei)

[Reporter Chen Guanbei/Changhua Report] Bird flu has been raging in Taiwan since October last year, and 640,000 poultry have been destroyed. To make matters worse, the large temperature difference between day and night this winter has caused the egg production of chickens to drop, resulting in high egg prices. , and Changhua County has more than 20 million laying hens, accounting for 45% of the total number in China. For this reason, Chen Jizhong, the chairman of the Agricultural Committee, went to the chicken farm in Pitou Township, Changhua County today to inspect the surrounding disinfection operations. Chen Jizhong promised that the Agricultural Committee The association will provide assistance and approve preferential loans to farmers who cooperate with the epidemic prevention and industrial upgrading policies. At the same time, it also recognizes the contribution of the Changhua Animal Defense Institute in preventing the epidemic, and promises to fully subsidize the epidemic prevention equipment in Changhua County to control the epidemic and make egg prices more stable.

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza is a global pandemic. Since autumn and winter, there have been more than 43 cases of poultry farms in China, and 640,000 poultry have been extinguished. The people of the country are very concerned about the supply of eggs. Chen Jizhong, together with Xu Rongbin, deputy director of the Defense Inspection Bureau and Regional legislators Xie Yifeng and Chen Suyue, along with Dong Mengzhi, director of the Changhua Animal Defense Institute, and others accompanied them to inspect the Mingwei Zhongji chicken farm in Pitou Township and listen to a briefing on epidemic prevention.

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During the inspection, Chen Jizhong took off his mask at one point and invited everyone to smell the air. He said that standing outside the chicken farm has no peculiar smell and can be used as a model for epidemic prevention. Xu Xuyao, a chicken farm owner in the Ming Dynasty, said that he was the first to cooperate with the policy transformation and invest about 21 million Yuan converted the traditional chicken coop into a closed water curtain facility. Unfortunately, the upgrade of the facility cannot apply for agricultural loans, and the interest rate exceeds 2.2%.

In this regard, Chen Jizhong pointed out that poultry all over the world are currently facing the risks of bird flu and climate change. If these two risks cannot be reduced, it will also have an impact on Taiwan's agriculture, people's livelihood, and national resilience. Therefore, President Tsai Ing-wen Chen Jianren, the new Chief Executive, requested the implementation of special regulations for the complete improvement of poultry farm facilities. However, it has not yet passed the review, but the Council of Agriculture and the Bureau of Prevention and Inspection have relevant funds for chicken farmers to apply for. For farmers who have cooperated with the policies of epidemic prevention and industrial upgrading, The Council of Agriculture will provide assistance and approve preferential loans.

The briefing meeting also pointed out that there are about 20.17 million laying hens in Changhua County, accounting for 45% of the country, 7.97 million broiler chickens, accounting for 29% of the country, and 10.2 million quails, accounting for 45% of the country. For cars, Dong Mengzhi asked the central government to provide more subsidies to make the epidemic prevention and disinfection work more complete.

After hearing this, Chen Jizhong immediately promised to subsidize the epidemic prevention equipment in Changhua County with all his strength, and praised the Changhua Animal Defense Institute for being the most serious in the inspection of African swine fever and the crackdown on illegal food waste, and the performance is the best. The government has enough bullets to prevent the epidemic.

Regarding the soaring egg price, he also said that the weather will warm up after the beginning of spring, and there will be no school meals for the 10-day holiday during the Spring Festival. With the quality of chicken raising facilities, egg prices can be more stable.

Xie Yifeng said that both plants and animals are now facing the impact of global climate change. She often debates with Chairman Chen on policy. Knowing that Chairman Chen's specialty is to deal with climate change issues, she hopes to find ways to improve it during this on-site inspection. , to help farmers overcome the difficulties of climate change, and for the intelligentization of the livestock and poultry industry, it is also hoped that the Council of Agriculture will assist local farmers in handling relevant matters as soon as possible.

Chen Suyue said that agriculture is facing more and more challenges, especially viruses are invisible, how to improve agricultural competitiveness, in the face of invisible threats, improving resilience is very important, and it is also the focus of the new cabinet. Agriculture is an issue of people's livelihood. Only by working together can farmers' livelihoods be properly taken care of, and people's livelihoods can be stabilized.

Council of Agriculture Chen Jizhong (3rd from left), together with regional legislators Xie Yifeng (2nd from left), Suyue Chen (3rd from right), and Dong Mengzhi (1st from left), director of Changhua Animal Defense Institute, went to Mingwei Zhongji chicken farm in Pitou Township Inspect and listen to epidemic prevention briefings.

(Photographed by reporter Chen Guanbei)

Chairman of the Council of Agriculture Chen Jizhong (2nd from left) affirmed that the Changhua Institute of Animal Defense cooperated with the ban, encouraged donating agricultural products to Dong Mengzhi (2nd from right), director of the Changhua Institute of Animal Defense, and promised to fully subsidize the epidemic prevention equipment in Changhua County.

(Photo by reporter Chen Guanbei)