President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) continued to miss the point in the dispute over falling fruit prices and have turned the debate into a campaign issue, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
In a recent campaign flyer printed in the format of a calendar, the DPP listed a dozen types of locally grown fruits, among them persimmons, that have plunged in price this year.
The persimmons shown on the flyer were non-astringent persimmons, which were being sold at least 10 times the price of astringent persimmons, the fruit the DPP wanted to highlight.
Ma and the KMT subsequently accused the DPP of misleading the public by quoting incorrect prices and hurting farmers who grow non-astringent persimmons.
“It’s a pity that people have misunderstood the message the DPP was trying to convey because of a misplaced picture,” DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.
What the DPP was trying to point out was the failure of the current administration to solve the supply-and-demand imbalance and the issue of exploitation of farmers, she said.
According to the DPP, prices for guavas in Changhua, longans in Greater Taichung and Nantou, persimmons in Taitung, as well as tangerines in Yunlin, have all fallen.
Tsai said she disagreed with the view of Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) that local governments are responsible for solving supply-and-demand problems. She said it should be the central government’s responsibility because it has “a lot more resources and administrative power.”
Citing data compiled by Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing on Saturday, Chuang Cheng-chi (莊振基), a farmer from Fanlu (番路), Chiayi County, told a press conference it was true that the price of the lowest-grade astringent persimmon fell as low as NT$2.4 per jin (斤, 600g).
At least one-quarter of the persimmons in Fanlu, which is known for its astringent persimmons, were left unharvested because the production cost was too high, he said.
Chuang said persimmon growers would be able to break even if their produce were bought at a price above NT$7 per jin.
“I’m a farmer with no political preference. All I want is to earn a living and raise my children with what I do,” he said, adding that Ma and Chen are welcome to visit Fanlu and see what is happening there.
“The supply and demand imbalance and declining annual income for farming households are both true. Is the COA acting responsibly by blaming all these on the DPP and a misplaced picture?” DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said at a separate setting.