China News Service, April 17, According to Taiwan's "Central News Agency", warm winter hit Taiwan's agricultural products hard. Zheng Jinkun, chairman of the Taiwan Beekeeping Association, said on the 17th that honey production may remain in 2019, the first time it has been seen in more than 60 years. The Taiwan authorities' "Committee on Agriculture" also said that the flowering rate of lychees and longans remains 20%, and honey and lychees have been reduced by more than half, the first time in the past half century.
Data picture: Lychee. Photo by Zhang Bin
"Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture" Chen Jizhong said at an event on the 15th that in Taiwan's warm winter in 2019, the flowering rate of longan and lychees was not good. Zheng Jinkun pointed out on the 17th that southern Taiwan bloomed around early March, and in the central part of China, it was in the end of March and early April. Apart from the warm winter, it did not rain too much, which was the two main causes. At present, the flowering rate of jade purs in the southern part of Jade purs is only 30% to 40%, and in the central part is only 10%, which is unprecedented.
"Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture" Chen Junji pointed out that the flowering rate of longan and lychees this year is only 20%. In about half a century, the flowering rate of the first time has been less than 50%. Originally, jade purses could be seen on the market at the end of April, but now it may not be seen. This year's production may be between 20% and 30% of previous years, with more than half of production cuts; together with more than half of honey production cuts, the first time it has been seen in about half a century.
Zheng Jinkun also said that he has been keeping beekeepers for 30 or 40 years, and his father's generation has been doing it for 60 or 70 years. In recent years, he has been affected by climate change one after another, and most of them have reduced production by 30 or 40%, which is very serious. This year, the production cut has reached 90%, and elders have said they have never seen it, "It is the first time in 60 or 70 years."
Will the price rise sharply? He said that when the production of 30% or 40% was reduced in 2017, the competition-level honey, priced at 700 ml, was more than NT$600, which has been relatively high in previous years. Although the production of 90% was significantly reduced in 2019, it should not rise again, otherwise imported honey would "invade" the island market.
But he also said helplessly that even if production was reduced in the past, the market share of honey produced in Taiwan was still more than half, and this year it is probably the first time imported honey has won more than half of the market share. Professional beekeepers can also use the help of selling by-products such as queen bee milk and pollen to keep their income within half of previous years. If the newly joined young beekeepers do not sell by-products, their income this year may be very bleak.
Taiwan Beekeeping Association roughly estimates that the normal output in previous years was 11,000 tons per year. In 2017, the production cut was about 7,000 and 8,000 tons, and in 2019, there were only 1,000 and 2,000 tons left. The "Committee on Agriculture" also revealed that the production cuts in 2019 are too serious and it is unlikely that the competition will not be held for the first time.
Taiwan Beekeeping Association also said that although orchid can control the temperature indoors to stimulate flowers, lychee and longan orchards are as big as the trees are high, it is unlikely that they will be transferred to greenhouses and other indoor methods to regulate the temperature to reduce the impact of natural gas temperature changes; therefore, it has proposed to the "Committee of Agriculture" to introduce natural disaster insurance policies to reduce the income loss of beekeepers, and hopes to list the subsidies for purchasing honey equipment as a normal subsidy to reduce cost expenditure.
"Committee of Agriculture" said that it actually includes the promotion of a warm winter warning mechanism to reduce the cost expenditure of beekeepers, and the implementation of complete response supporting mechanisms such as drip irrigation have been compiled.
