Taiwanese farmers protest fertilizer price hikes

TAIPEI, Taiwan: About 200 farmers from Taiwan’s rural south protested Friday against a 70 percent increase in fertilizer prices, demanding government subsidies to help them offset rising costs.

The protesters, mostly from Pingtung and Tainan counties, held up fertilizer bags scribbled with slogans such as “Fertilizer Prices Rise, Farmers Die.”


Last month, the government lifted a three-year freeze on fertilizer prices, allowing suppliers to factor in their rising costs amid soaring global raw material prices.

The protesters said the move encouraged widespread hoarding, leading to a severe fertilizer shortage.

Newly inaugurated President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration also has lifted freezes on fuel and electricity prices, setting off a wave of price hikes for everything from food to household supplies.

IHT