Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Some farmers in a mango producing area in Tainan City on Monday predicted a severe decrease of local mango fruit this year as many mango trees are not fruiting well. A legislator has promised to seek help from the central government.

Tainan’s Yujing and Nanhua districts are one of few main mango producing areas in Taiwan. Local mango fruit matures around June and July every year. The mango season usually attracts many tourists to the area to buy fresh mango and taste the popular mango ice, and the income is an important part of the local economy.

However, this year local farmers have complained that their mango trees have not flowered well and that many of the scanty fruits on the trees are thin and almost “empty.” Now is about time to put a paper bag around each grown mango fruit on the tree to prevent pests from harming the fruit, but there are just a few fruits on each tree, farmers said.

A member of a local farmers’ association surnamed Lai said local mango trees flower around November, and the ideal weather for the flowering season is cool and dry. But November last year saw warmer weather and more rainfall than previous years, and the situation got worse after severe cold fronts and the ensuing heavy rainfall hit early this year, which resulted in poor flowering and fruiting, Lai said.     [FULL  STORY]