Taiwan’s peach crop contracts 25%

Taiwan’s peach and nectarine crop is predicted to contract 25% in 2019 to 17,000 tons, due to quality issues and lower domestic demand. The lower quality of this year’s crop has resulted in lower prices for domestic sweet and honey varieties. Similar problems last year led to farmers abandoning a portion of their crops. Peaches and nectarine seedling area is expected to expand, but not by enough to compensate for the damage caused during the 2016 typhoon season. In fact, total harvest area is predicted to decrease from 2,075ha in 2018 to 2,060ha in 2019. Besides facing severe weather problems, in recent times, growers have also faced labour shortages.

Peach and nectarine imports to Taiwan are estimated to remain at 15,000 tons in 2019. The country’s two main suppliers are the US (79%) and Chile. Issues with Chilean production have led to a 12% increase in imports from the US, to 10,856 tons.