For years, rice from Houbi Township were considered good in quality, but recent media reports that soil from the town's rice paddies adjacent to a metal making slag recycling plant were found to contain excessive amounts of chromium have raised concerns about the quality of rice.

These worries have prompted the Tainan County government on Monday to send experts to take rice grain samples from three pieces of farmland suspected to be contaminated and to have the samples tested.

Su announced the test results, which showed no excessive levels of heavy metals, at a press conference Thursday.

Su said that chromium and arsenic usually would not be absorbed by rice plants since these minerals are not vital essences for growth.

Although Taiwan has not set a standard for maximum allowable levels of arsenic in grains, the level of arsenic contained in the rice grain samples from Houbi Township was much lower than the German residue limit for wheat at 1 ppm (1 part per million), Su added.

Su said that the Agriculture and Food Agency of Taiwan's Council of Agriculture has taken more samples of rice grains, including hulled grains from Houbi, for testing, but found no excessive levels of heavy metals.

While the quality of the rice from Houbi Township can be assured after careful examinations, Su said that the county government would concentrate its efforts on helping farmers sell their rice. In addition to setting up purchasing hotlines, the county government will sponsor two recreational programs on the weekends in November to promote Houbi as a township with quality rice yields.

(By Yang Su-jui and Lillian Lin)