(COA) of the Executive Yuan and Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp. estimated that, in the next ten days, the wholesale price of vegetables will remain at around NT$25 to NT$28 per kilogram as long as there are no additional disasters during this period. The COA further said the current price, which is a 30% increase from prices before the typhoon, will not fluctuate.
Yesterday, the Chairman of COA Chen Wu-siung went to a traditional Taipei fruit and vegetable market to inspect the supply of the produce. He noted that the most affected areas were in Taichung, Zhanghua, Yunlin, Jiayi, Kaohsiung and Pingdong. Areas not as affected by the typhoon, include Northern Taiwan, along with areas at higher altitudes with cooler temperatures, have vegetable production that can supply the rest of Taiwan, alleviating the loss caused by the typhoon.
The Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp. released a report outlining the effects caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi. According to the report, Northern Taiwan's production of produce remains unaffected. However, in Central Taiwan, the production of short-term harvests, such as cabbage, suffered greatly due to heavy flooding, coupled with the recent high temperatures. There, the production of these vegetables has been cut in half.
Yunlin and Jiayi's production of short-term harvest has been cut by 40 percent; and Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingdong's production of vegetables, such the bitter melon and tomatoes, has been cut by more than 50 percent. The report added that the large supply of cabbage should compensate for the general loss of vegetable production.
Chang Ching-liang, manager of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp., said that during the first two weeks of July, vegetables were priced at NT$20 per kilogram. After the typhoon, however, prices rose to NT$30. But in the past few days, the prices have decreased and stabilized at around NT$25.
Furthermore, the report indicated that the quantity of fruits, including pineapples, papaya, guava, and watermelons, decreased yesterday from Tuesday, due to a decrease in the quality of the fruits following the typhoon, coupled with the decrease in demand. Prices have risen for passion fruits and melons; but otherwise, prices have decreased for other fruits, except pineapples which have remained at the same price.
