The amount of land used in Taiwan to grow wax apples has decreased by up to half in recent years due to unusual weather such as typhoons, heavy rains, warm winters and extremely cold winters, according to the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (KDARES) on Thursday.
“In the future, the wax apple will become a fruit that is really expensive,” said Chen Ssu-ju, assistant researcher at KDARES.
The cultivating area for the fruit in the country has dropped from over 8,000 hectares at its height in the 1990s to 3,600 currently. In Pingtung alone, the amount of land used to grow wax apples has dropped from over 7,000 hectares in the same time frame to 2,600 hectares currently, Chen said.
Typhoon Morakot in 2009, extreme cold weather from a few years ago, three typhoons in 2016 and floods in recent years have all convinced many wax apple farmers to call it quits, said Chen.
She explained that the fruit cannot withstand flooding from heavy rain and usually rain along the coast will cause flooding of up to one week, which will soak the wax apple trees to death.
Continuous rain will also easily cause the fruit to crack and affect its flowering. Hence in recent years, farmers in Pingtung’s coastal township of Fangliao have switched from planting black pearl wax apples to mangoes or rice, said Chen.
Wax apples have many varieties which are distinguished by their color. The name of the black pearl wax apple was named according to the color and shape of the fruit.
Wax apples also need to be attended to; farmers have to climb onto the trees to bag its fruits to protect them and cut its branches. But due to Taiwan’s farmers generally being up in age, they find such tasks laborious and as a result have planted less of the fruit, said Chen.
Wang Jui-hsiung, a farmer renowned for planting black pearl wax apples in Pingtung, said due to the three typhoons in 2016, wax apple production in the area have dropped by 80 percent, causing heavy losses to farmers.
The vast temperature differences between night and day in recent years have also caused the fruits to crack, while warm winters have affected their quality, said Wang.
He explained that the plant needs cold weather for it to fruit, but the warm weather in Taiwan has caused this year’s wax apples to be smaller in size.
In Pingtung, many wax apple farmers have switched to planting lemons or bananas, said Wang.
The KDARES has been selecting imported wax apple varieties from Southeast Asia for cultivation, aiming to cultivate tougher and stronger varieties.
One such variety is dubbed “Kaohsiung 1.” It has a low rate of fruit cracking, a beautiful appearance with brightly colored skin and is easier to cultivate than other varieties, not requiring frequent fertilization and the cutting of branches, said Chen.
But she said that the variety has not yet been released for farmers to plant.
Wang, who claimed to be almost defeated by the anomalous weather, said he has been grafting the varieties he has imported from Southeast Asia and is currently screening eight new breeds in hopes of cultivating a strong wax apple variety that can withstand the abnormal climate.
Written by Kuo Chih-hsuan and William Yen, Focus Taiwan