TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan now has its own blueberries thanks to a six-year effort lauded by local officials as an agricultural wonder.
While Taiwan boasts a great variety of fruits, blueberries are mostly imported from countries like Peru, Chile and the U.S. Quality of the fruit is an issue due to the decline in freshness from lengthy shipping and the fact it often comes in the top three among imported fruits failing pesticide inspections, wrote FoodNext.
The concerns can now be addressed after a collaboration between Taiwan Blueberry, a local farming company, and National Taiwan University (NTU), bore fruit.
The Mandarin name of the company “山丘藍,” literally means “hill blue,” as it managed to cultivate the fruit at the foothills of Alishan, a mountain range in central Taiwan, with the expertise of a team led by Li Kuo-tan (李國譚), a professor at NTU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. According to Li, the team spent over 15 years developing the technique to grow the delicate fruit as three factors—blueberry variety, soil, and weather—are all important.
Years of effort have paid off. A sprawling 30-hectare farm down the hills of Chiayi’s Alishan and along the Bazhang River can now mass produce the berry, harvested between December and May.
The “Made in Taiwan” blueberries are touted as freshly picked and juicy. No further processing is involved when they are harvested and packaged, said the company. The product is now available via online orders or at 7-Eleven stores across the country.
Taiwan has seen a surge in demand for blueberries. It imported more than 2,000 tons of the fruit in 2021, up from 330 tons in 2011, per the Council of Agriculture.
(Facebook, Taiwan Blueberry photos)
