Banana farm-gate prices plummet, 4 to 5 times the price gap with market prices, farmers call on government to investigate
Recently, banana farm-gate prices have swung wildly, with farm-gate prices even reported to be as low as only 12-15 yuan per kilogram. However, walking into supermarkets in the city, the end-market price of bananas still remains at 80-100 yuan per kilogram (48-60 yuan per Taiwan catty). According to trading information from fruit and vegetable wholesale markets across Taiwan, trading volume has not increased significantly, but banana prices have fallen straight down from two weeks ago, dropping from 40 yuan per kilogram to 25 yuan per kilogram today.
Farmers say the pandemic has not affected banana sales, and has even increased export orders. With demand strong, the farm-gate purchase price offered by middlemen has unexpectedly fallen. Are middlemen colluding to monopolize and reap excessive profits? They call on agricultural authorities to intervene and investigate as soon as possible.
Banana farmers: Output has not surged, exports are normal, they do not understand why prices have plummeted
"It drops a bit at the front, rises a bit in the middle, and now it drops again, just like a sauna cycle." Xie Zhiqiang, chairman of the Meinong District Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung City and also the banana farmer with the largest banana planting area in Meinong, expressed confusion. During the Lunar New Year period, COVID-19 (Wuhan pneumonia) broke out, and banana prices were affected for a time, but after subsequent news that "eating bananas can fight the virus," banana prices began to rise in mid-February.
Xie Zhiqiang said that until early May, farm-gate prices were still not bad, but unexpectedly prices then fell straight down. "The farm-gate purchase price fell from more than 40 yuan per kilogram to 15 yuan. This is simply abnormal!" Xie believes that output has not surged and exports are shipping normally. The normal farm-gate purchase price should be above 20 yuan per kilogram. Xie believes that the sudden drop in prices must be due to middlemen manipulating the market.
Although farm-gate prices have fallen, banana prices at consumer locations still remain high. An actual visit to supermarkets found that bananas were priced at about 49 to 60 yuan per Taiwan catty (about 80-100 yuan per kilogram). Among them, the Pingtung bananas and Nantou bananas sold at PX Mart were about one catty per bag, priced at 49 yuan per catty (80 yuan per kilogram); the bananas sold at FamilyMart were priced at 20 yuan per banana, which converts to about 60 yuan per catty (100 yuan per kilogram).
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