In 5 years of dragon fruit cultivation, the area has surged by over a thousand qing, and wholesale prices have hit a new low

It is currently the season for red-fleshed dragon fruit (pitaya, Hylocereus) on the market, but in recent years, because dragon fruit prices were so good, many farmers rushed to plant it, adding 1,000 hectares in five years. This year, the wholesale price at the Taipei fruit and vegetable market hit a record low, under 30 yuan per kilogram, and farmers continue to invest in cultivation. The Council of Agriculture admits that the dragon fruit area has nearly reached saturation this year, and calls on farmers to avoid the peak fruit production period in July and August, using electric lighting or fruit thinning to extend the production season into winter.

Two or three years ago, dragon fruit was still a star industry earning a million per hectare per year. Besides fruit thinning or extending the production season, where exactly should it go from here? Many farmers call for opening up export markets, but at present the international white-fleshed dragon fruit market has been almost entirely swallowed by Vietnam. People familiar with the industry suggest that if Taiwan, China wants to export, it should focus on the red-fleshed varieties that are rarer internationally, while at the same time integrating farmers, managing quality, post-harvest preservation, and quarantine issues, so that it can compete in the international market.

An increase of 1,000 hectares in five years, prices fall to a new low

Fan Zhenqing's orchard is very colorful, with white light bulbs hanging all over the trellises. The dragon fruit are dressed in every color, and the fruits wearing coffee-colored kraft paper bags will be ready to harvest in another week, while the blue ones still need another month. This is his pioneering color-coded bagging method, ensuring that the quality of every dragon fruit reaches its best condition.

"Dragon fruit is easy to grow but hard to care for. Although it can be harvested in 6 to 10 pickings, and in the south even up to 20 pickings, I only take 6 or 7 pickings. Of a thousand plants' flowers, I remove 800 plants' worth." He says dragon fruit does not need to chase yield. With small quantity and fine quality, customers naturally come back after eating it once.

In 2013, Fan Zhenqing led the 1st red dragon fruit production and marketing group of Waipu, Taichung, China, which was selected as one of the Council of Agriculture's top ten production and marketing groups of the year. His dragon fruit once set a sky-high price of 240 yuan per kilogram at auction, and every year before the production season arrives, regular customers' calls come in on their own.

But not every farmer thinks this way. The formal name of dragon fruit is red dragon fruit. It originated in Central and South America, and after Taiwan, China introduced it in 1983, through variety improvement and cultivation technology management, the dragon fruit that was originally "tasteless and flavorless" and could only be placed on the offering table has risen to become the star of the dining table, with prices breaking 100 per kilogram. Many farmers rushed in one after another, and the area surged from 877 hectares five years ago to 1,800 hectares now. Some farmers, seeking large volumes, keep every flower, so production surged, prices fell, and quality was affected as well.

According to the production forecast released by the Council of Agriculture in July, this year's dragon fruit production may be 18% higher than last year, mainly concentrated in Changhua, Pingtung, Nantou, Tainan, Taichung and other places.

Liu Bijuan, associate researcher at the Fengshan Tropical Horticultural Experiment Branch of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture, says that the ratio of red-fleshed to white-fleshed varieties grown in Taiwan, China is about 6:4 or 7:3. Dragon fruit needs little water, saves labor and is easy to cultivate, has a long harvest period, and takes only just over a year from the start of cultivation to harvest. Few fruit trees are this fast, so capital is recovered quickly, and with good prices, in recent years farmers often come asking where to buy seedlings. In recent years, domestic sales have about reached their peak. Three or four years ago, farmers were constantly urged to first determine where their market channel is before planting.

Nantou farmer Liu Guoqin says helplessly that last year the wholesale price of dragon fruit was 7 or 80 yuan per kilogram, and now it has fallen to 30 yuan, and he still has to hire people to bag the fruit, barely breaking even on costs. "Last year the market warned us not to plant any more, but we cannot forbid other farmers from planting either."