Technology helps extend passion fruit production season

In Taiwan, the passion fruit is mainly grown in one region and the harvest lasts from July to September. But thanks to technology, the tropical fruit can be grown in several parts of the country and will be available all year round.

 

 

 

According to COA (Council of Agriculture), Taiwanese consumers will be able to purchase passion fruit all year round, thanks to lighting technology developed by a government-run agricultural technology research center located in the south of the country.

 

 

 

Producers in the south of the country have been harvesting the passion fruit they have been cultivating since the end of February, the Kaohsiung district research center said. Over the past 3 years, the center has taught farmers in several areas how to grow passion fruit using artificial lighting as a substitute for sunlight.

 

 

 

Using this lighting technology, farmers can pick ripe fruit from February to June, before their counterparts in the Puli region start harvesting in July. In the country, passion fruit is mainly grown in the Puli region of Nantou County, and the harvest lasts from July to September.

 

 

 

According to data from the research center, the area is estimated at 100 hectares of "spring passion fruit" planted in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, with an expected annual production of 2,000 tons. The area of ​​"summer passion fruit" reaches for the whole country about 809 hectares, of which 604 hectares are located in the county of Nantou.