White Radish Season Marks 10 Years of Success: Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai Joins Share Subscription and Celebrates with the Public

Autumn and winter are the production season for Meinong white radishes. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai took part in the white radish share subscription and became one of the shareholders. After 45 days of careful tending and waiting, the harvest finally arrived yesterday (the 15th). In the morning he rolled up his sleeves, went down into the fields of Meinong to start the harvest and happily pulled radishes. He was full of praise for the sweet, crisp white radishes, held one high for a group photo with the crowds of people of all ages filling the field, and energetically promoted this flavor that belongs exclusively to winter.

When asked about plans to export white radishes, Mayor Chen Chi-mai expressed deep confidence in Meinong white radishes. He said that domestic sales currently fall short of production, and opening up share subscriptions allows the public to reserve them in advance, otherwise they would not be able to eat them even if they wanted to. He mentioned that a certain noodle stall in the city uses Meinong white radishes, and that besides sufficient production, it also has to match the season, location and variety; fresh radishes are not something you can eat whenever you want, so the possibility of export is currently not high.

The Kaohsiung City Agriculture Bureau stated that white radishes are small in size and well suited for cooking in modern small households. Every year when the white radish season arrives, large numbers of tourists flock in to buy or personally harvest radishes. This time the Meinong Farmers' Association opened share subscriptions for white radishes and edamame. Each share of either radish or edamame as a single crop is 700 yuan; each radish share yields about 40 Taiwan jin, and each edamame share about 20 Taiwan jin. The harvest period runs from mid-November to mid-December. There are 540 shares in total for white radishes and edamame, and 360 shares have been subscribed so far, showing quite enthusiastic subscription.