crowds gather at the Hami melon producing area, and even the farmers' association staff are scared by what they see

 

 

June is right in the middle of the New Century Hami melon season in Zhuangwei, Yilan, and recently many people from northern Taiwan have driven directly to the producing area to buy them, but during the Level 3 COVID-19 alert and epidemic prevention period, consumers gathering together instead creates a risk of spreading the epidemic. Chen Yuhua, director-general of the Zhuangwei Township Farmers' Association, said, "There have been so many visitors from the north these past few days that even the farmers' association staff are scared by what they see," and asked consumers to replace in-person melon purchases with online orders and home delivery. In addition to opening orders through its online mall, the "Mihua Agricultural Innovation Hall," the farmers' association can also refer consumers to high-quality farms.

 

The New Century Hami melon is an improved variety of Hami melon native to Xinjiang, characterized by its oval fruit shape and crisp flesh, with Zhuangwei in Yilan as its largest producing area. Last year, because the climate alternated between cold and hot and heavy rain caused disaster, New Century Hami melon farmers had almost no harvest; but from March to May this year the climate was good, and the Yilan area did not lack water, allowing the melon season that originally harvested in mid-June to start more than half a month early, with harvests beginning one after another from mid-to-late May.

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Zhuangwei New Century Hami melons began entering the mass-production stage this week, and many northern gourmets, fearing delays in home-delivery logistics, have driven to Zhuangwei Township to pick melons. But with the epidemic alert in effect, all sectors have been urging people not to return home for the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend. The Zhuangwei Township Farmers' Association even announced on its official Facebook yesterday (the 8th) that consumers were welcome to buy at the farm friends' stalls by the embankment on Xinlan Road in Xinnan Village. Chen Yuhua said that although the farm friends' stalls are outdoors, the streets have been full of people these past few days, and crowding may be bad for epidemic prevention; the association will revise the relevant announcement as soon as possible, and hopes consumers will buy as much as possible through online shopping or by calling the farmers' association's supply and marketing department.

 

The New Century Hami melon gift box comes as a single box with 2 fruits, each fruit weighing a little over 3 Taiwan jin. The farmers' association calculates the price based on the purchase price from farm friends at about 90 yuan per Taiwan jin, plus shipping: 100 to 120 yuan per box for room-temperature delivery and 200 to 240 yuan for refrigerated delivery, with the actual price negotiable with farmers' association staff. Chen Yuhua said home delivery resumed service to the Taipei and New Taipei areas starting yesterday, and currently delivery is possible across all of Taiwan, but next-day delivery after ordering cannot be guaranteed. If consumers worry that the fruit will become too ripe during storage and transport, it is recommended to choose refrigerated delivery.

 

Lin Wenhua pointed out that New Century melons can be stored at room temperature for about within 1 week, and most people rarely refrigerate them; refrigeration is estimated to allow storage for 2 weeks, and room-temperature storage and transport by home delivery is still acceptable for 3 days, but if delayed to 5 days there may be a risk. When consumers buy New Century Hami melons, if they can take delivery immediately, it is recommended to let them sit at room temperature for 1 or 2 days to ripen, and once the fruit's sweetness is at its best, then put them in the refrigerator to chill; the flavor after chilling is irreplaceable.

Lin Wenhua, assistant researcher at the Lanyang Branch Station of the Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, said that Zhuangwei melon farmers adopt a premium strategy of keeping one fruit per plant, this year's yield is normal to slightly good, each orchard can harvest 50% to 80% of its fruit, and the sweetness averages above 14 or 15 degrees Brix, with a maximum of 17 degrees Brix. At the beginning of the season, early-harvested fruit may be slightly smaller in shape, but from June onward the fruit shape will gradually become larger. This year's fruit has the crisp characteristic that this variety should have, and consumers who have eaten it praise it endlessly.