Nantou County Government concerned about banana prices, makes large-scale purchases to pass on to athletes and students

Chen Ruei-ching, Director of the Agriculture Department of Nantou County, made a special trip on the morning of the 31st to the Jiji Township Farmers' Association and to the fields to show concern about prices and marketing conditions at banana production areas. As the weather has gradually turned colder, output has decreased, so the farm-gate purchase price of bananas this week has already risen by about double compared with a few days ago, reassuring farmers considerably.

A few days ago, because the weather was stable and there were no disasters, banana production across Taiwan increased greatly, leading to overproduction and a sharp drop in purchase prices. The Nantou County Government specially launched an emergency purchase and marketing campaign, with the Agriculture Department purchasing 8,500 kg of bananas to distribute to athletes and to serve as fruit for school students' lunches. On the one hand this helped sales, and on the other it let local residents and students taste high-quality locally grown bananas, in the hope of boosting buying momentum so that more people would buy bananas and support local industry through action.

Agriculture Director Chen Ruei-ching said that banana prices have remained sluggish since June, greatly affecting farmers. In particular, Nantou's banana planting area is more than 3,000 hectares, with output reaching 42,700 metric tons, the second highest in all of Taiwan, mainly concentrated in Jiji, Zhongliao and Guoxing and other places. At present, in addition to short-term promotions, the county government will also strengthen guidance for businesses to develop banana processed products to raise added value, and will try to open up overseas channels and increase export sales. This is the long-term way to respond.