After changing from betel nuts, 63-year-old farmer Chu Kuo-hsing (朱國興) now grows nationally renowned persimmons, acclaimed for their size and sweetness, at his farm in Taichung’s Heping District (和平).
Chu said he uses low amounts of planticides and fertilizers on his fruit trees, but his persimmons are both sweeter and bigger than the average fruit.
He said his secret is technical assistance from National Chung Hsing University agriculture and natural resources professor Tsay Tsung-tsuan (蔡東纂), who was introduced to Chu by the farmer’s elder brother.
Photo: Lee Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
Prior to becoming a successful persimmon farmer, Chu said he grew bamboo shoots and betel nuts with his parents near Taichung’s Dakeng (大坑) area and that he was a leading betel-nut farmer.
Chu said that a decade ago, he began to sense a contraction in the betel-nut market and decided to transition to persimmon farming.
Chu said he bought three jia (甲) of land (11.77 hectares) and started growing fruit trees right away, but with initially discouraging results.
In spite of spending more than NT$1 million (US$30,714) on fertilizer and weed killer each year, his fruits were “about the size of an egg,” Chu said, adding that his fruit became the butt of jokes in the farmer’s market where his persimmons were derided as “Chu’s little ones.”
Chu said he went to Tsay desperate for help, and the agriculturalist told him that he should drastically reduce his use of chemicals.
Chu reduced his fertilizer use by 90 percent and his persimmons became some of the best on the market, Chu said.
Chu’s persimmons measure 20 on the Brix sweetness scale and weigh between 9 and 15 liang (兩, a traditional unit of weight based on a lump of silver, the equivalent of about 37.5 grams), with the biggest fruits weighing up to 18 liang. The average persimmon on the market weighs between 6 and 9 liang.
Chu said that he sells 60 percent of his produce direct, and does not use retail venues. His fruit has no pesticide or weed killer residue and are sold for between NT$200 and NT$300, Chu said, adding that he is expecting a substantial rise in the market price of persimmons this year.
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