In a bid to combat the oversupply of tangerines on the Taiwanese market that has pushed prices down to NT$5-6 (US$0.15-0.18) per kg, the country’s government has raised a subsidy encouraging farmers to switch to other crops.
Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) hopes to reduce tangerine production 10 per cent, with the NT$150,000 (US$4,526) per hectare incentive to switch crops raised from the existing NT$120,000 to reach that goal.
The COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung put 2008 production at 200,000 tonnes from 9,500ha of orchards.
Several marketing campaigns have attempted to increase domestic consumption of the fruit, and efforts are underway to increase exports to China, which accounted for only 1,200 tonnes last year.
