2011’s low rainfall has lead to high productivity and consequently low prices for oranges and cabbages, Formosa Television reported yesterday (Chinese article here). Prices of Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata (高麗菜; “Korean vegetable”) and Chinese cabbage (大白菜; Brassica rapa pekinensis; “big white vegetable”), fell as low as NT$5-6 per kilogram in areas of production, while that of ponkan (椪柑; Citrus poonensis; a relative of the tangerine) fell to NT$4-6 per catty (台斤; 600g).
This is causing much dismay to farmers—and their political supporters—since capital costs for ponkan, for example, are estimated at NT$12 per catty.
Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011
Farmers' suffering is consumers’ gain, however, and a lesson to all to eat seasonal foods. Oranges (perhaps ponkan variety) were NT$7 per catty in Luzhou Market, New Taipei City, yesterday, and customers could hand-choose their favorite fruit, unlike at supermarkets which sell fruit and vegetables in pre-selected bagfuls.
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