The Taiwanese United Daily News reported that Taiwanese dragon fruit entered its production season this month, but production and marketing are out of sync. In central and south Taiwan there are already farmers who are pruning the branches in preparation for the next production season. The paper further reported that the overall surface area devoted to dragon fruit plantation in Taiwan reached 2,894 hectares this year, which is an increase of 4% in comparison with last year. The production volume increased by 8% this year. The surface area devoted to dragon fruit plantations increased by 400% in the last 10 years. The production volume is estimated to reach more than 70 thousand tons this year. If the sales volume does not significantly increase, then the abundant harvest will create a situation where supply greatly exceeds demand.
Hengchun Peninsula in Pingdong County produces top-quality, early-season dragon fruit. They fetched a price of 75 yuan [11.30 USD] per kg on the Taibei Fruit and Vegetable Market early last month. Afterwards the price dropped to 35-40 yuan [5.27-6.03 USD] per kg.
