The Production and Marketing of Loquats’ Farming in Central Taiwan – via Time-goegraphic Perspective

• Main Authors: Lin Fang-Yu, 林芳渝
• Other Authors: Shiu Shu-Jiuan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/gf363h

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 地理學系 === 101 === Most of Taiwanese loquats yield from shallow hill regions in the central Taiwan such as Xinshe District, Taiping District and Guoxing Rural Township. The high labor-demanding period of loquat cultivation lasts from the end of October to April next year. However, the scarce population in hill regions can not afford the labor-intensive loquat cultivation. It has become the major issue for loquat farmers to cope with seasonal labor demands and accomplish all the harvests every year. Since loquats are soft and difficult to preserve, another issue drives from the types of selling. Applying semi-structured interviews and field research as the research methods, this study aims to investigate the loquat cultivation in Xinshe, Taiping and Guoxing with the time-geographical approach. The results show the main reason that Xinshe, Taiping and Guoxing have become the main yielding regions of loquats attributes to their perfect cultivation condition. In addition, since loquats are rare and high-priced in the fruit market, the benefits from growing have attracted farmers in the central Taiwan. The first cultivation of loquats began in Tou-Bian-Keng, Taiping, and gradually scattered to the low hills nearby in 1950s. In 1970s, the loquat cultivation had reached its peak, having the maximum yield amount and growing area. The scale of loquat cultivation had reduced in 1980s due to the pests and lower competitiveness, yet the cultivation had also expanded into higher altitudes and formed a phenomenon of “the hill-climbing loquats”. Although some loquats are still cultivated in protection forest nowadays, the government has bizarrely chosen to burn a blind eye and help popularize corps harvested from the over-utilization forest. There are three types of labor allocation as coping with the seasonal demands of loquat harvests. The first type refers to professional cultivation, making loquats the only or high-proportion crop and hiring part-time workers in peak seasons. Multi-crop farming is the second type; it refers to cultivate loquats and other corps with similar proportions and different peak seasons. By planting other crops as the slack seasons of loquats, the farmers can also diversify the risk. The third type of labor allocation refers to hiring no part-time workers. The farmers hold negative attitude toward the loquat cultivation since they are aged and taking the loquat cultivation as an exercise. These farmers are too weak to do heavy work, and they put less attention on loquats but other crops. In order to maximize the selling speed and profits of loquats, the farmers always market their own products for more profits. However, the sustainable management of selling their own loquats also needs to work on customer development and credit accumulation. The reason why Taiping can market more loquats than other two districts attributes to its brand effect of “Loquat Hometown”. On the other hand, some loquat farmers will sell the remaining loquats to the local wholesalers after they tempt to market their own products. There are also some farmers choose to sell the loquats all at once to the local wholesalers when it comes to rich harvests. The loquats are still profitable as sending to the peasant associations for co-cooperative marketing. However, since the loquat famers also have to bear the marketing costs, it is not the most profitable way to sell loquats and the last selling option for farmers. Among the three regions, farmers in Taiping can always find out more profitable selling types than co-cooperative marketing. The co-cooperative marketing business in Xinshe achieves little progress since the farmers tend to put up their fruits to auction in the fruit and vegetable wholesale market. About half of the loquat harvest in Guoxing is sold to the northern Taiwan by the co-cooperative marketing due to the inconvenience of transportation. The northern Taiwan is the prior market of loquat wholesales due to the intensive population and various sorts of consumers with higher income and consuming ability.