There are three types of peaches produced in Taiwan: sweet peaches, ying-go peaches, and honey peaches. Peaches are mostly grown in hilly areas in Taiwan, with honey peaches grown at higher altitudes. The harvest seasons is from April to May (sweet), June (ying-go), and July to August (honey peaches). Local growers reported that a longer and warmer 2019 winter season negatively impacted pollination. Taichung and Taoyuan counties account for almost 80 percent of domestic production; both counties are reporting crop conditions worse than last year, with over 50 percent of harvested trees rated in poor condition.
According to the Taiwan Agro auction database, traded volume for domestic peaches and nectarines from April to July 2019 was down over 60 percent compared to the same period last year. Due to weak demand for domestic peaches and production/quality issues, peach and nectarine production is forecast to decline 25 percent to 17,000 MT in 2019. Weak local demand is directly linked to continued quality issues, which in turn resulted in lower prices for domestic sweet and honey varietals 2018. Ultimately, these factors led to low prices for farmers and this led many to abandon a portion of their 2018 crop, which has also contributed to adjusting 2018 production down three percent to 22,506 MT.
