Pitaya fetches a high price of 240 yuan per kilogram, making Waipu in Taichung an oasis
"It's no use if I'm the only one doing well. I hope the next generation, and the generation after that, can all return to this land." Fan Zhenqing, Taichung's "dragon fruit master," once set a sky-high auction market price of 240 yuan per kilogram; but he keeps nothing to himself. Six years ago, he called on local farmers to form a production and marketing group, using grass cultivation and no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, making a name for themselves in the market and becoming the first brand in all of Taiwan to enter Japan and Singapore. This year it was even selected as one of the nation's top ten outstanding production and marketing groups, turning the little-known Waipu in Taichung into a dragon fruit oasis.
"'Dragon Master' red dragon fruit, awesome!" "Hey! How did you mess up again!" Inside the tin-roofed factory, in the drizzling rain, more than 30 farmers wearing "Dragon Master" blue uniforms sat neatly and uniformly on iron chairs, in a posture both standard and slightly awkward, and shouted at the photographer with full vigor, "Dragon Master red dragon fruit, awesome!" Yet these short seven words were flubbed more than ten times. "Growing dragon fruit is still easier!" the farmers said sheepishly and shyly, but they could not hide the pride on their faces at standing out among the nation's more than 6,000 production and marketing groups.
The results of the biennial selection of the nation's top ten outstanding production and marketing groups were announced in the middle of last month. The No. 1 Red Dragon Fruit Production and Marketing Group of Waipu District, Taichung City, stood out among 6,521 production and marketing groups after three stages of screening. It was Taichung's only representative and the first award in the more than 90-year history of the Waipu Farmers' Association.
"It was only established 6 years ago, and of the 11 production and marketing groups in all of Taichung that took part in the selection, only we were chosen." Fan Zhenqing, the soul of the Waipu dragon fruit production and marketing group, pointed at the door plate of the collection site at "No. 11-1, Liufen Road" and said proudly with an energetic, cheerful smile. In fact, this tin-roofed factory was built with his own money and on land he donated, and his journey of returning home is a microcosm of the history of Waipu dragon fruit.
(This article was funded by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but the foundation does not interfere at all with news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)