The Council of Agriculture yesterday announced the first export of lettuce to Saudi Arabia, after it extended the vegetable’s allowable shipping time from 20 to 28 days.
Twenty tonnes were shipped, it said.
Council Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) made the announcement at a village in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮), which is known for producing large quantities of quality lettuce.
An average of 10,000 tonnes of lettuce was exported annually over the past three years, with 80 percent sold to Japan, Chen said, adding that the council aims to explore new markets to diversify risk.
Taiwan last year exported 7,490 tonnes of refrigerated lettuce, generating revenue totaling US$6,538,000, council data showed.
Of that, 6,592 tonnes were sold to Japan, 628 tonnes to South Korea, 120 tonnes to China, 76 tonnes to Singapore and 4 tonnes to the United Arab Emirates, the data showed.
As temperature affects the quality of lettuce, it used to be sold mainly to Asian countries that could be reached in seven to 10 days, the council said.
However, the shipping time for lettuce can be extended to 28 days, thanks to a vacuum cooling technique developed by institute members and some businesses, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute Director-General Lin Hsueh-shih (林學詩) said.
With the technique, the temperature of lettuce just harvested can be dropped from nearly 20°C to 7°C in four hours and to 4°C the next day, allowing for long-distance shipments, he said.
After experimenting with a shipment to Dubai last year, it was confirmed that lettuce could have a shelf life of seven days after being transported for 28 days, Lin said.
After successfully exporting samples of guava to the US last month and lettuce to Saudi Arabia, the council would continue to find new export markets for different crops, even though the nation cannot sign more free-trade agreements with other countries at the moment, Chen said.
The council would strive to achieve its goal of increasing crop exports by 10 percent every year, despite the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China affecting domestic exports to China, Chen added.
The council is to announce plans today for the agriculture sector to respond to the disease, its schedule, released yesterday, showed.
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