Fourteen cities and counties have reported agricultural losses since Jan. 22 caused by the worst cold snap to hit Taiwan in decades, and the losses had reached NT$404.81 million (US$12.07 million) as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA). The biggest losses were in Tainan in southern Taiwan, which had so far reported losses of NT$232 million, or 57 percent of the total, COA Secretary-General Tai Yu-yen (戴玉燕) said. Yunlin and Miaoli counties also suffered substantial losses -- NT$78.81 million and NT$47.09 million respectively, Tai added. Chiayi County, which complained that the central government was "absent" during the crisis, reported NT$21.58 million in agricultural and fishery losses According to COA statistics, crop losses had accumulated to NT$77.39 million as of Tuesday. A total of 1,583 hectares of crops were damaged, with strawberries hit the hardest, followed by ginger, oranges, bell fruit and pear flower-budwood. The loss of strawberry alone, covering 154 hectares, was estimated at NT$22.99 million. Fishery losses had reached NT$327 million, mainly caused by die-offs of milk fish, groupers, common oriental clams and tilapia in aquacultural farms, the statistics show. Pig and poultry farmers suffered a loss of NT$330,000. In January, 2005 when a cold snap hit Taiwan with snow in some places, the total agricultural losses reached NT$650 million. Tai said that although the cold wave damaged some farming products, leading to a moderate rise in vegetable prices in domestic markets, she anticipated that the current price fluctuation is nothing but a short-term phenomenon. She urged consumers to refrain from panic shopping, even though the traditional Lunar New Year holiday is soon to come. With the temperatures climbing, green crops will grow fast, Tai said. Also, although some fruits were damaged during the cold spell over the past few days, there are other fruits like sugar apples and guava, whose outputs can meet demand, she said. Source - focustaiwan.tw