TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Tainan City Government held an agricultural promotional activity on Sunday (July 23), promoting avocados from Danei District.

Tainan is Taiwan’s largest avocado producer, accounting for 36% of avocado orchards. About 653 hectares of farmland in Danei District are dedicated to avocados, with an annual output of 9,419 metric tons.

The area also produces Irwin mangoes, which recently completed their annual harvest. It was believed a drought earlier this year would affect both crops, but the impact has been limited, and this year's harvest has been on par so far with previous years, per PTS.

"Some places lacked water, such as hilly areas where the water supply was unstable. This definitely affected production, but in the orchards with abundant water, the yield was actually very good," said local avocado farmer Chen Chung-cheng (陳眾正).

"When we went to Hsinchu yesterday, we learned many people were quite receptive to avocados, even as much as mangoes. Consequently, I think they can become even more popular as we will continue to list avocados as a key agricultural product for promotion next year," said Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).

The Danei District Office said avocado trees have shallow roots, and despite afternoon thunderstorms in mountainous areas this year, the damage to the avocado crop has been relatively minimal. However, with a typhoon expected to hit Taiwan in a few days, farmers are urged to take protective measures to reduce the impact on their crops.