Taiwan cabbage exports troubled
Statistics compiled by the Council of Agriculture showed that Taiwan dedicates 9,000 hectares of farmland to cabbages, with annual production estimated at over 360,000 tons.
Over the past five years, cabbage exports accounted for only a tiny portion of production, and declined from 2,500 tons in 2011 to only 200 tons in 2016, the statistics showed.
Council officials said that up to 80 percent of Taiwan's cabbage exports were destined for the Japanese market. Tsai Chun-ying, a senior technical specialist at the Council of Agriculture's Department of International Affairs, said the decline in cabbage exports and the failure to increase export prices were mainly caused by a failure to secure a stable supply of cabbage with consistent quality.
She said cabbage farmers could follow the practices of banana farmers. The latter usually rely on trading companies to source orders from abroad and then determine their production schedule to ensure a steady export of quality bananas at stable prices.
source: chinapost.com.tw
