Taiwan Today

Countries of Central America used to be called the "Banana Republics". Taiwan is catching up with them. A crop that earned only US$8 million in 1963 soared to US$107 million in the two-year period of 1965-66 and made up about 10 per cent of total exports. Nine-tenths of the banana crop goes to Japan, which lifted a 600,000-basket import limit in 1963.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's bananas are grown on plains of the Kaohsiung area in the south and slope lands around Taichung in the west-central part of the island. Rainfall is less there than in the north, so irrigation is essential (note ditch in top left photo). The banana-growing area of Kaohsiung totals about 60,000 acres, that of Taichung a little less than 50,000. Plants are cut down after harvest and a new seedling then emerges. Growth takes a year.

 

 

 

 

Ripening bunches of bananas are carefully wrapped in paper to protect them from insect pests. Trees are given the support of bamboo poles to help them carry the heavy weight. A large part of the work on Taiwan banana plantations is performed by girls. They wear straw hats and sometimes veils to guard their faces against the burning sun. Although the growing season extends throughout the year, Kaohsiung has its biggest harvests in spring and summer and Taichung in fall and winter. Export began in 1912 and reached a 1937 record of 3 1/2 million baskets in Japanese times. The 1966 export total was nearly 8 million baskets.

 

 

From plantations, bananas are taken to collection stations operated by marketing cooperatives. Formerly the small, unprotected farmer received little for his bananas, while the middle men and exporters grew rich. Government regulations and the cooperatives have changed all that and given the grower an incentive to harvest big, healthy crops. Japan is now paying US$8 a basket for Taichung bananas and US$7 for the Kaohsiung variety. Some exports also go to Hongkong, the Ryukyus. and Korea. Experimental shipments have been sent to other markers.

 

 

Bananas are weighed and packed at the collection stations. Each basket for export shipment must weigh at least 48 kilograms (105 pounds). The biggest peril of the banana trade is spoilage. The fruit is picked green. To retard the ripening process during shipment, girls coat the bunches with a harmless preservative. Even so, spoilage losses may be heavy in extremely hot weather. Formerly bananas were shipped in ordinary cargo holds. Japanese buyers sometimes rejected cargoes and the fruit had to be dumped in the sea. New air-conditioned banana boats are coming into use. They assure delivery of the sweet, tasty fruit in peak condition.

 

 

Weaving of banana baskets is an important and profitable sideline occupation for Taiwan's farmers. The raw material is bamboo and the baskets are hand woven. However, automation comes to all things, even bamboo baskets. Holes in the frames are now drilled with electric motors. The containers are lined with bamboo leaves to provide a soft nest for the easily bruised bananas. Because the baskets are light, they can be telescoped and piled high aboard an ox cart for delivery to the cooperatives. Almost all farmers have such carts and are glad to save the cost of a truck rental.

 

 

 

 

After the weighing and packing process, the baskets are tightly tied with rice straw rope and loaded aboard trucks for the journey to port. Most of them are shipped from Kaohsiung, the island's largest port and second largest city. Big, airy warehouses have been built to accommodate the fruit awaiting shipment. The most enthusiastic supporter of bananas as a major Taiwan export is Hsu Peh-yuan, chairman of the Foreign Exchange and Trade Commission. His name Peh-yuan literally means "Cypress Plantation". In appreciation of his efforts to promote exports, farmers have nicknamed him Chiao-yuan, which means "Banana Plantation". The growing of bananas has brought new prosperity to thousands of farm families.

 

 

 

Now the bananas have reached the end of their Taiwan progression from tree to the ultimate consumer. In most cases, the next stop will be Japan, whose sweet-toothed people have a great liking for the yellow fruit. The Japanese are said to prefer Taiwan bananas to those of Central America, claiming they are sweeter. Now the Philippines has begun a bid for a share of Japan's banana buying bonanza.