The first batch of blueberries commercially grown in Taiwan went on sale on Monday at convenience store chain 7-Eleven in a venture seeking to break the nation’s dependence on imports of the highly nutritious fruit.
Chiayi County Agricultural Department official Lee Chiu-ying (李秋瑩) said that the blueberries were grown in the county’s Fanlu Township (番路).
The Taiwan Blueberry Team was founded in 2016 and collaborated with Li Kuo-tan (李國譚), a professor in National Taiwan University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, to adapt techniques learned from the UK and the US, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
The team overcame weather and environmental limitations to successfully cultivate domestic blueberries at the foot of one of Taiwan’s most famous peaks, he said.
Chiayi Agricultural Department head Hsu Chang-min (許彰敏) said that most people associate agriculture in the Alishan (阿里山) area with tea and coffee.
He was happy that the Taiwan Blueberry Team set up at the foot of Alishan and introduced the berry to Taiwan’s agricultural scene, Hsu said.
Aside from 7-Eleven stores, people can also purchase domestically grown blueberries from the Taiwan Blueberry Web site, www.taiwanblueberry.com.
In other news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said that about 123 tonnes of Chilean cherries were denied entry into Taiwan after food safety tests showed they had pesticide residue in excess of its standards.
Nine shipments from Chile were found to have residue of cyantraniliprole, a broad-spectrum insecticide, after batch-by-batch inspections at the border, said Chen Ching-yu (陳慶裕), an official with the FDA’s Northern Center for Regional Administration.
Taiwan only allows cyantraniliprole within its standards in melons, cruciferous vegetables, tea leaves, apples and pears, the FDA said, adding that it is not allowed in imported cherries.
Since Jan. 11, all cherries imported from the South American nation have been subject to border testing after fruit shipments were found to be failing safety checks with increased frequency, Chen said.
Also named among 35 substandard food products on the latest list of refused food shipments published by the FDA yesterday were kumquats from Japan, frozen pork from Spain, mola mola intestines from Singapore and a shipment of Indonesian instant noodles.
All of the shipments that were flagged were either destroyed or returned to their country of origin, the FDA said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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