High winter temperatures stop longan from flowering, fruit harvest drops 90%, longan honey harvest fails completely

No longan to be found at Ghost Festival, a rarity in past years! This year's abnormal climate has reduced harvests of various crops, with longan and lychee suffering the largest drops. Well-known longan-producing areas in Taiwan, China such as Dongshan in Tainan and Wufeng in Taichung, have total output at only 10% to 30% of the past, and some areas have produced nothing at all! Fresh longan has soared to over 300 yuan per kilogram on the market, but the total quantity is extremely small. Longan farmers say they have never encountered such a disastrous situation and can only rely on natural disaster relief to get through this year. Eating longan has become a luxury! High winter temperatures prevent flowering, longan harvest drops 90%,

The longan harvest drop has also affected honey. Honey in Taiwan, China consists mainly of longan honey and lychee honey. Both crops had extremely low flowering rates this year, and beekeepers who rely on longan flowers and lychee flowers as nectar sources have also suffered heavy losses, with some not collecting a single drop of honey. As for the extreme climate possibly continuing to affect the longan industry, fruit farmers and beekeepers are well aware, but can only take things one step at a time.

Dongshan in Tainan produces zero longan

Longan is a perennial fruit tree with a lifespan of over a hundred years. Every year from November to January of the following year, as the weather turns cold, longan trees successively push out flower buds, then bear fruit, and harvest begins successively in August and September.

Dongshan in Tainan, famous for dried longan, is the area with the longest history of longan cultivation and the largest planting area in Taiwan, China. The dried longan produced in Dongshan District is smoked with soil kilns and longan wood to create a unique flavor, and is the material specifically sourced by world bread champion Wu Pao-chun.

Li Qingxiang, in his seventies, is a typical longan farmer in Dongshan and also a beekeeper, inheriting 5 jia of longan orchards and soil kilns. "My family's longan trees have been here from my grandfather's time until now, over a hundred years. I've cared for longan trees for over 50 years and kept bees for over 40 years." When talking about this year's poor longan harvest, Li Qingxiang's smile instantly disappeared. "After growing longan for so many years, this is the first time with absolutely no harvest, but farming means living at the mercy of the weather!"

Dongshan farmers follow traditional methods, only adapting to the weather

Compared with Wufeng in Taichung, where longan harvest dropped to 30%, the longan trees in Dongshan, Tainan have almost no harvest, and Nanxi Village, where Li Qingxiang is located, has not a single longan, let alone dried longan. Dongshan grows quite diverse longan varieties, mainly "Lutengzi" with high sweetness and a bouncy texture. The care for longan trees is relatively extensive, with few pesticides applied, at most dwarfing old trees. A small number of farmers do flower forcing, but most people, even if they know the technique, still do not like to do it.

"We people here (in Dongshan) all grew up watching our grandfathers grow longan, and we don't like to change the way longan trees grow." Li Qingxiang said slowly. In the past, at the invitation of the agricultural improvement station, he went to various places to observe planting methods, but even after learning various techniques, whether flower forcing, heavy fertilization, or spraying control agents, few people followed suit.

With this year's harvest at zero, they can only rely on the government's natural disaster relief funds to get by. Li Qingxiang smiled faintly: "There's no way, that's reality. Farming, just let nature take its course."

Wufeng longan farmers use flower forcing and variety adjustment, this year's fruit set rate is about 30%

Wufeng in Taichung is also one of the main fresh longan-producing areas in Taiwan, China, with a planted area of 1,192 hectares and annual output of 8,826 metric tons according to last year's statistics. The Wufeng area is a major export area for fresh longan fruit in Taiwan, China. In the past, the older generation grew longan extensively, but the Wufeng area gradually developed management methods for longan trees, including dwarfing and fruit thinning, to increase longan fruit size and quality. The introduction of flower forcing technology increased overall yield.

In the past, the fruit set rate of longan each year depended on whether the previous winter had enough low temperatures to stimulate longan flowering. This warm winter caused the flowering rate of longan trees across Taiwan, China to approach zero, with output dropping 90%. Wufeng's fruit set rate could still maintain 30%, thanks to early flower forcing.

In addition, Wufeng fruit farmers also adjust the production season by using different longan varieties with different ripening times. The most numerous "Bianlunke" has a harvest period around September, and recently "Zaoshu Bayi" with an August harvest period and "Rendi" with an October harvest period have been introduced, extending the harvest period at both ends.

Zhang Zhongjing, head of the first fruit tree production and marketing group in Wufeng, Taichung, bent back a cluster of "Zaoshu Bayi" longan. The thin flesh tasted mild and elegant. Another variety, "Bianlunke," tasted thick and bouncy with a balanced sweet-sour ratio. Although the longan quality was good, Zhang Zhongjing sighed: "At this time in the past, looking across the whole mountain, it was golden with longan, but this year it's a stretch of green."

Century-old fruit trees dwarfed for easier harvesting

Zhang Zhongjing, also in his seventies, is the third generation of longan farmers. During the Japanese occupation period, his grandfather had already begun growing longan in Tonglin, Wufeng, and by his generation he was the third. He began following his father to care for longan trees after graduating from elementary school, and has never done any other trade, watching longan flower and fruit for nearly sixty years.

Walking into Zhang Zhongjing's longan orchard, all the longan trees are over a hundred years old, with thick branches extending left and right. This is the result of dwarfing the longan trees. "The longan trees before were too tall. When pickers climbed up to harvest and came down saying they were very dizzy, I knew this couldn't continue!" To ensure the safety of longan pickers, Zhang Zhongjing began dwarfing the longan trees.

Dwarfing longan trees means pruning away branches growing upward and leaving only branches extending left and right. The cut nodes will still grow upward into flowering branches, and these new branches are the harvest positions each year. Compared with traditional tall longan trees, where orchard management requires workers to climb the trees for fruit thinning and pest removal, the advantage of dwarfing is convenient management. Whether harvesting or routine orchard maintenance and fruit thinning, it saves a lot of labor.

Lychee stink bugs, abandoned orchards, mealybugs, squirrels, and monkeys all harm longan

Besides weather causing longan crop failure, lychee stink bugs and other insects and animals are major headaches for longan farmers.

Zhang Zhongjing said that lychee stink bugs like to eat the newly sprouted flower buds of longan, although this year's flowering