The price of dragon fruit has stabilized after more companies have purchased them to make processed food products, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, while calling on farmers not to deliver damaged fruit to markets, which would cause the price to drop.
Warmer weather and less rainfall this year has led to many fruits being overproduced, and the unstable prices have worried local farmers over the past few months.
Following the plunging prices of bananas and pineapples, dragon fruit sales are expected to be the next to break down.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Domestic production of dragon fruit this year has increased 8 percent compared with last year, generating more than 60,000 metric tonnes, COA Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) said on Tuesday, but added that the council has taken several steps to moderate prices.
Dragon fruit production usually peaks between June and October, with production increasing in the past few years as more farmers grow it, the council’s Agriculture and Food Agency said yesterday in a news release.
The agency had in April warned fruit farmers of increased production this year, while asking agricultural experts to help farmers adjust production totals by pruning branches that might produce inferior fruit, it said, adding that it has put more effort into promoting the fruit since last month.
Dragon fruit were yesterday sold for an average of NT$23 per kilogram at Taipei’s wholesale markets, higher than the council’s alert level of NT$20 per kilogram, indicating that the oversupply pressure has eased off, the agency said.
Eleven companies, including I-Mei Foods Co, Hua Nan Bank and state-run utilities, have placed large orders for the fruit, it said.
The agency also urged farmers to separate their harvest by classes, and not to take damaged or inferior fruit to markets to keep the price up.
Separately yesterday, at a farmers’ fair at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) urged the public to purchase Taiwanese fruit.
Some of the building’s space could be opened for farmers to sell fruit, Chen quoted President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as saying, adding that Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the building could become a venue for selling crops.
Asked to comment on the council’s work regarding the processing of crops, Chen said that the council has expended much effort on the matter, but not enough, adding that it should review its actions.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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