A research team established by the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute successfully overcame export bottlenecks for locally grown pineapples by reducing incidence rates of fungal rot to 35 percent and pesticide costs by at least 30 percent.
Japan has become the primary market for pineapple exports since China in 2021 banned imports of the fruit from Taiwan.
Institute director-general Dennis Wang (王仕賢) said that pineapples have become the leading fruit export, with outbound shipments of 19,400 tonnes, or nearly NT$800 million (US$25.45 million), per year.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Since 2021, more than 90 percent of Taiwan’s pineapples are exported to Japan, Wang said.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2022 found that pineapples exported to Japan were often affected by pests such as scale insects and cosmopterid moths, necessitating fumigation, Wang said.
Many pineapples developed stem rot soon after hitting the shelves in Japan after seven to 10 days of shipping, he said.
The institute developed a drone pesticide spraying method in collaboration with local agricultural research and extension stations, he said.
That lowered the fumigation rate from 35.4 percent in 2023 to 16.6 percent last year, as well as reducing field labor costs by at least 30 percent, he said.
Pineapple fumigation decreased to 155 batches from 345 over the period, saving about NT$20 million, Wang said, adding that the method has been applied to more than 500 hectares of pineapple fields.
The institute also introduced an end-to-end temperature control technique to aid cold chain logistics, he said.
The storage temperature for pineapples to be exported is about 13°C, which decreases browning, a common result of chilling, he said.
Tainung No. 17 — commonly known as golden diamond pineapples — have been the primary pineapple export to Japan, Wang said.
Another recent cultivar — “Tainung No. 23,” also known as mango pineapple — is expected to help boost the total export volume, he said.
While golden diamond pineapples are produced mainly from March to June, mango pineapples are harvested from May to August, extending the harvest season, Wang said.
The ministry on May 22 obtained breeding rights for mango pineapples, he added.
Da Mao Fruit and Vegetable Cooperation Association chairman Chen Ying-yan (陳映延) said pests such as cosmopterid moths are hard to kill, as they hide in pineapple flowers, where pesticides cannot easily reach.
The institute helped identify the issue and guide growers to use pesticide shortly after the plants blossom, Chen said.
Pineapple exports to Japan totaled about 2,000 tonnes per year before 2021, he said, adding that the yearly volume has grown nearly 10-fold since then thanks to the efforts of many parties.
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