Rice farmers in north-eastern Taiwan begin their spring cultivation despite a serious water shortage in the southern part of the island due to low rainfall last year, forcing 19,000 hectares of farmland to go fallow according to official estimates. “Yilan is the rain capital of Taiwan,” says Yu Hong-ming, 70, a life-time farmer, as he gets ready to plant rice seedlings. “We are never short of water. No matter how much you use, we will always have water," he adds with a smile, in reference to the drought in the south. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES