The Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute’s branch in Chiayi County spent 28 years coming up with the new “Lychee Tainung No.7 (Early Big)” variety. Fruit farmers from the nation’s major lychee farming areas were invited to attend a launching ceremony on May 15 to try out the nascent cultivar. Chang Jhe-wei, a researcher at the institute and head of the horticulture department, says that the new variety can be harvested in the middle of May, sometime around Mother’s Day, which is 10 days earlier than the “jade purse” (yuhebao) variety. Lychee Tainung No.7 is large-fruited, tastes great and is easy to grow, so it is anticipated that it will become a new favorite among fruit farmers, Chang says.
Around 12,000 hectares of land is currently used for lychee cultivation in Taiwan, but Chang says that 70 percent of the lychee being grown belong to the heiye, or “black leaf,” cultivar, which are primarily harvested in June. The second most common variety, yuhebao, makes up around 25 percent of lychee cultivation and is typically harvested toward the end of May. A market surplus usually occurs due to the harvest period being concentrated around the end of May and the month of June, which slashes prices and affects farmers’ ability to turn a profit.
Lychee Tainung No.7 has helped bump the start of the harvest period to the middle of May. Fruit farmers in Pingtung County, Greater Kaohsiung, Greater Tainan and Changhua County are currently growing the new cultivar, which was already harvested in Pingtung and was nearly ready to be harvested in Greater Kaohsiung in mid-May. As a relatively rare commodity the new variety is by no means cheap, going for anywhere between NT$120 and NT$160 per jin (600g).
Photo: Yu Hsueh-lan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者余雪蘭
Chang says the fruit shows a stable yield, has nice flesh and contains as much as 16.7° Brix sugar content, making the new lychee a welcome commodity for consumers.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
農業試驗所嘉義分所育種長達二十八年才推出的新品種台農七號「早大荔」，五月十五日舉行發表會，邀全國各主要荔枝產區的果農現場品嚐。研究員兼園藝系主任張哲瑋指出，早大荔在五月中旬母親節前後即可收成，比玉荷包品種早約十天，果實碩大，口感好，且好栽培，可望成為果農的新寵。
張哲瑋指出，全國荔枝栽種面積有一萬二千公頃，但百分之七十栽種的是俗稱「黑葉」品種，收成期集中在六月，其次為玉荷包，佔約百分之廿五，產期在五月下旬，由於產期過於集中在五月底到六月，以致市場供過於求，價格下跌，影響農友收益。
早大荔的產期則提前到五月中旬，目前在屏東、高雄、台南、彰化等地都有果農試種，屏東五月中已完成採收，高雄當時也正成熟，由於物以稀為貴，市價一斤(六百公克)約一百廿元到一百六十元不等。
張哲瑋表示，早大荔產量穩定，果肉細緻，糖度也高達十六點七度，完全迎合消費者的喜好。
（自由時報記者余雪蘭）
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