Premier Su Tseng-chang on Tuesday traveled to Miaoli County to observe emergency efforts against an infestation of the fall armyworm, which poses a serious threat to agriculture. The premier said that the central government will immediately assemble a fall armyworm emergency response task force, while local governments should set up their own task forces to monitor and take action against the pests. The Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture (COA) will prepare a full complement of resources such as manpower, pesticides and infestation-control equipment, and use modern technology to distribute without delay relevant photos and information to front-line personnel for reference.
Referring to Taiwan's battle to prevent any domestic outbreak of African swine fever, Premier Su observed that Vietnam, Mongolia, North Korea and Hong Kong have all been unable to prevent the spread of the virus. Taiwan, however, has so far successfully blocked the disease at its borders, demonstrating the considerable importance of the nation's watertight lockdown approach.
As the fall armyworm has already arrived in Taiwan, with cases reported in Miaoli, Chiayi and Yilan, the premier instructed the COA to take the lead in organizing meetings with local governments and responsible ministries and agencies to confer on a common strategy to fight the infestation.