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Cauliflower prices plummet as hot weather brings a surge in supply; direct-from-farm sales of green and white cauliflower are a great deal

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Let's help together - eat cauliflower for fitness and to support farmers! Hot weather brings a surge in supply, green and white cauliflower prices plummet, direct-from-farm sales are a great deal

The sudden warm weather made cauliflower grow too fast, catching farmers off guard! After wave after wave of cold fronts recently, the brief warm spell caused white cauliflower and broccoli to grow rapidly. They should have matured and been harvested in batches, but instead a massive amount suddenly flooded the market. Cai Jianwen, manager of the Xihu Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market, said that cauliflower intake these past few days is three times the usual amount. Within just one week, the wholesale prices of both types of cauliflower fell steadily, with white cauliflower prices cut in half outright.

Cauliflower and broccoli are both excellent for fitness and weight loss. Both have fewer than 30 calories per 100 grams. Cauliflower is rich in minerals, folic acid and vitamin C, with more than twice the potassium of an apple while having only half the calories. Broccoli is similarly rich in minerals and vitamin C, with more than ten times the calcium of an apple, and every 100 grams of broccoli contains 359 ug of beta-carotene - extremely nutrient-dense.

Farming regions are urging consumers that now is the perfect time to eat cauliflower. Besides buying at the market, you can also purchase directly from the farm. Each 20 kg box (about 12 heads of white cauliflower) costs only 500 yuan including shipping, and can be ordered online - stay fit and support farmers! (For direct-from-farm purchase information for cauliflower and dried cauliflower, see the end of this article)

Both green and white cauliflower are nutritious ingredients great for fitness (photo / Cai Jiashan)

Farming regions are urging consumers that now is the perfect time to eat cauliflower. Besides buying at the regular market, you can also purchase directly from the farm. Each 20 kg box (about 12 heads of white cauliflower) costs only 500 yuan including shipping, and can be ordered online - stay fit and support farmers! (For direct-from-farm purchase information for cauliflower and dried cauliflower, see the end of this article)

Cauliflower and broccoli: prices falling steadily for a week straight

Cauliflower and broccoli look similar and both belong to the cruciferous Brassica oleracea group, having evolved from wild cabbage. Cauliflower is mostly white; the cloud-like portion is undifferentiated tissue, while the edible part of broccoli is the differentiated flower buds. These two related vegetables each have about 1,500 hectares of cultivation area in the country and are quite popular on winter dining tables, but last week saw prices take a sharp downturn.

According to the "Agricultural Products Wholesale Market Trading Information Site," over the past week cauliflower wholesale prices fell continuously from 30 yuan per kg on January 19, dropping by half to just 15 yuan per kg on January 27. Broccoli wholesale prices fell from 45 yuan per kg all the way down to 23 yuan per kg.

Puyan Township in Changhua County is the largest cauliflower production area in Taiwan, China. The Puyan Township Farmers' Association supply and marketing department said that winter is cauliflower season, and there is normally a larger volume before Chinese New Year. The recent rise in temperature caused cauliflower to mature faster. Last week the farmers' association sent an average daily auction volume of up to 10 metric tons to the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation, but the transaction price was at most only 20 yuan per kg. "Cardboard boxes have even gone up in price recently - how can we bear this?"

Cauliflower January trading price and volume trend chart (source / Agricultural Products Wholesale Market Trading Information Site)

Sudden warm spell causes cauliflower that should be harvested in batches to mature all at once

"Cauliflower production periods can be controlled - it should be a crop with very stable production and sales," said Mr. Zhang of the Dacheng Farmers' Association extension section in Changhua County. Unlike cabbage and other leafy vegetables that are harvested all at once regardless of size, cauliflower is harvested only when mature. Taking local farmers as an example, if planting two fen of land with staggered plantings, the harvest period can be stretched to a month. In cold weather, cauliflower matures gradually batch by batch, but once it turns warm, all the cauliflower in the field grows rapidly, and the amount that should have been spread over two weeks is harvested all at once, causing a supply surge.

How serious is the supply surge? Cai Jianwen, general manager of the Xihu Township Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Changhua County, explained that the market normally absorbs 30 to 40 metric tons of cauliflower per day, but starting last week the intake gradually increased, reaching 90 metric tons. "Local fruit and vegetable wholesale markets have this much - let alone the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation." The surge in intake caused supply and demand to become unbalanced, and prices slid.

The cauliflower situation is critical, and broccoli is equally urgent. Chen Youhua, general director of the Liujiao Township Farmers' Association in Chiayi County - the largest broccoli production area - said that last week the price was about 40 to 50 yuan per kg, and currently the price is holding at 30 yuan per kg. Farmers are not losing money, but the price is on the lower-middle side. The reason is that recent hot weather makes broccoli mature quickly - "especially above 25°C, the harvest period shortens noticeably."

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