Taiwan is racing to bring 770 hectares of mud-covered farmland in Hualien back into production, and early findings are encouraging for farmers there.

• A barrier lake on the Mataian River overflowed and buried farmland in Guangfu under silt.
• Tests found no heavy metal pollution in the damaged soil, but organic matter is low and debris is piled up.
• The local farm improvement station and National Cheng Kung University signed a deal to study the soil's microbes and speed recovery.
• Six hectares are being used as a test plot for tilling and organic fertilizer to prove out a repair method.
• The mud washed down from upstream is deep-layer soil, poor in nutrients and microbial life, so the ecosystem has to be rebuilt from scratch.

Outlook: Researchers expect the combination of soil science and AI analysis to cut recovery time for future disasters like this from a decade to a year or two.