Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday announced a price guarantee system for cabbages, where the minimum price will be set at NT$6 (€0.17) per kilogram. The scheme hopes to protect farmers against unsustainably low prices, and it will be implemented before Lunar New Year.
The price floor is set according to the calculated production cost, which is NT$5 (€0.14) per kilogram, according to the COA. This production cost suggests that a standard one hectare plot produces 200,000 kg of cabbage at NT$3.6 per kilogram, and each kilogram costs NT$1.5 to transport.
Chair of the COA, Chen Chi-chung, said at a press conference yesterday that if the market price falls below NT$6 per kg, the COA will take action and buy the produce. Chen added that NT$6 is far above the production cost.
In Dec. 2018, Taiwanese food company I-Mei Foods bought 150 tons of cabbage at NT$12.5 per kilogram, in a bid to stabilize falling prices. Chen went on to say that the income of farmers must be ensured, and this is the responsibility of the COA.
Chen said that the council works towards creating a balance between cabbage production and marketing, based on registration of production by farmers, adding that if Taiwan receives a bumper crop, the council will market and send the produce abroad.
