The Shanghai municipal government began rushing emergency supplies of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides to farmers in Shanghai's suburbs yesterday to steady the supply of vegetable on the local market after many crops were severely damaged by Typhoon Matsa over the weekend.
The emergency measure, which was decided at a hastily called meeting late Monday, will provide an expected 120,000 tons of jimaocai, a green-leaf vegetable that grows rapidly, starting August 27, according to the Shanghai Agricultural Commission.
"Shanghai's greens supply has been seriously affected by Typhoon Matsa," said Zhang Sirong, director of the commission's vegetable office. He said the city gets most of its vegetables from the suburbs and neighboring provinces, two areas that were hit hard by Matsa - the biggest storm to hit Shanghai in eight years.
The city consumes 10,000 tons of vegetables a day, 3,000 tons of which are green-leaf veggies. The current supply of green-leaf vegetables is less than 1,000 tons a day, Zhang said.
Typhoon Matsa flooded 26,667 hectares of farmland in the city over the weekend, the most serious devastation in more than 30 years. The government is still calculating the financial losses from the storm.
Farmers were busy yesterday repairing storage bins, dredging drainage ditches and plowing soaked soil.
At a news briefing yesterday, Vice Mayor Hu Yanzhao asked all suburban district chiefs to take every measure necessary to ensure a steady vegetable supply.
"We must act quickly to plug the supply shortfall," Hu said. "Meanwhile, we should fully guarantee farmers' incomes."
The government has allocated 70 million yuan (US$8.64 million) to help farmers resume production. Insurance companies also prepared 35 million yuan to cover damages.
"The 2 hectares on which I and several others make our livings were totally drenched, and I estimated a loss of more than 100,000 yuan," said Zhuang Shengde, a farmer who was mending storage bins on his plot in Zhuding Village, Songjiang District, yesterday.
(Shanghai Daily August 10, 2005)
