Heavy rain has wrecked vegetable crops in Kaohsiung, which is bad for farmers who now have nothing to sell and could soon be bad for shoppers facing higher prices.

• Days of downpours dumped over 500mm of rain in 24 hours on Mituo, Zihguan and Nanzih, ruining bok choy and water spinach.
• Zihguan is one of Kaohsiung's main vegetable-growing areas, so the losses hit supply hard.
• City council speaker Kang Yu-cheng toured the local farmers' association collection point and told the city government to watch market prices closely.
• The farmers' association is holding 60 tonnes of cabbage in storage to release if supply gets tight, and is pushing more sales to military and school canteens.
• Farmers are being urged to file damage claims quickly, with the city seeking relief payments covering all crop types.

Outlook: Vegetable prices are likely to rise in the coming weeks, with replanting costing farmers both time and money before supply returns to normal.