Drought impact on spring tea reaches natural disaster level

Drought impact on spring tea reaches natural disaster level

2026-04-07

Tea across multiple farmsteads in Nantou is growing poorly due to the lack of rainfall early this year. The damage is most severe in Zhushan and Lugu townships, where spring tea production could decrease by 40 to 60%. The Ministry of Agriculture announced that all tea-producing townships in Nantou, except Ren’ai Township, qualify for natural disaster subsidies.

Braving the rain, agricultural authorities check the spring tea crop. If it had rained like this a few months ago, this year’s spring tea would not have been so heavily impacted.

Yu Hao
Legislator (KMT)
It barely rained at all in January, and only for one day in early February, with scattered showers at the end of the month. It’s very serious. The crop has been seriously damaged.

Zhushan is Nantou’s second-biggest tea-producing township. It barely rained here at all in January, reaching standards for “disastrous weather” due to drought, the Ministry of Agriculture said. The drought has been the worst in Zhushan and Lugu townships, impacting the growth of new shoots and the size of leaves. This has led to a serious decrease in spring tea production.

Huang Cheng-tsung
Tea and Beverage Research Station official
The tea buds are shorter than the typical length of spring tea, with an overall sprouting rate of only 30 to 40%, which is very low.

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Nantou’s Agriculture Bureau inspected the tea fields, confirming that the losses reach the standard for natural disaster relief.

Chiu Shao-wei
Nantou Country Government official
For Lugu, Zhushan, and other production areas in Nantou, including all the areas impacted by the disaster, we hope that the Ministry of Agriculture can provide subsidies.

The ministry said all tea-producing areas in Nantou except for Ren’ai Township would receive subsidies to help them through the disaster.

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#farming #Nantou #agriculture #MinistryofAgriculture #tea #springtea #teaproduction #drought #naturaldisaster

春茶還沒採"枯一半" 南投茶列天然災害現金救助

2026-04-07

年初乾旱少雨，造成南投多處茶區，春茶生長受阻，尤其竹山、鹿谷，災情最為明顯，出現新芽不良、葉片萎縮等問題，春茶恐怕減產4到6成以上。農業部已經公告，南投縣除了仁愛鄉之外，其它產茶鄉鎮，都納入天然災害現金救助範圍。

冒著雨，看茶葉農損，這場春雨，如果能早幾個月下，或許春茶茶葉的狀況，就不會那麼慘。

[[立委游顥(國)]]
“一月的時候幾乎是沒有下雨，二月初的話大概只有下一天，以及二月底下部分小雨，整個都非常嚴重，農損非常嚴重。”

竹山鎮是南投第二大產茶鄉鎮，因為1月雨量少，竹山甚至全月份近乎沒降雨，已經達到農業部公告茶葉旱災的"災害性天氣參數"標準，乾旱狀況甚至比鄰近縣市茶區，更加嚴峻。受到長期缺雨影響的，還有鹿谷，這兩個區域，茶園陸續出現萌芽不整、生長遲緩及葉片萎縮等現象，導致今年春茶產量，明顯下降。

[[茶改場中部分場長黃正宗]]
“茶芽生長比較短，比較沒有像以往春茶的長度，整個萌芽率只有百分之三十到四十，是非常低的。”

經過南投縣政府農業處，會同農業部農糧署等單位，現地勘查後，確認災情已經達到，農業天然災害救助標準。

[[南投縣政府計畫處長邱紹偉]]
“針對南投縣，包括鹿谷鄉，還有其它產區，包括竹山的部分，所有茶葉受災狀況，都希望能夠透過農業部來給予補助。”

農業部已經公告，將南投縣除了仁愛鄉以外，都列在現金救助地區，依相關標準提供補助。

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President Lai Ching-te pays tribute to democracy activist Cheng Nan-jung at Chin Pao San Cemetary, on the 37th year since he died by self-immolation.

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