Yuhebao lychee farmers who have suffered from poor harvests because of recent downpours are to be offered subsidies, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday.
Any Yuhebao lychee farmer in the metropolitan area who has seen their production fall more than 20 percent due to unfavorable weather conditions would be eligible for financial assistance, the city’s Agriculture Bureau said.
The bureau is offering NT$90,000 per hectare to Yuhebao lychee farms suffering losses, it said.
The Yuhebao lychee is one variety of lychee grown in Taiwan, with May and June considered the peak growing season.
Also known as the Jade Purse because of their large size and thick flesh, Yuhebao lychees are particularly popular among Taiwanese consumers during the Dragon Boat Festival, which usually falls in May or June.
Of the 3,400 hectares of land devoted to lychees in Kaohsiung, about 1,800 hectares are used to cultivate the Yuhebao variety, concentrated in Dashu District (大樹).
Farmers harvest about NT$1.2 billion (US$36.64 million) worth of Yuhebao lychees in Kaohsiung per year, but poor weather conditions have caused an estimated 50 percent drop in production this year, with many lychee growers concerned about their livelihoods.
Hsu Lun-chao (許倫肇), a third-generation Yuhebao lychee farmer in Dashu, said he normally harvests about 60 tonnes of the fruit on his 5-hectare farm, but he expects the output to fall to 12 tonnes this year.
Heavy rains severely affected bees pollinating the fruit, causing a plunge in production, Hsu said, adding that older family members said it was the worst lychee season in the area in memory.
Hsu said lychees are expected be more expensive this year because of the shortage.
Local media reported that Yuhebao lychees are being sold online for NT$280 per kilogram this year, up sharply from NT$65 per kilogram last year.
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