Taiwan organic strawberries evolving with climate changes

Bright red strawberries are delicate and fragile fruit. They need humid and cold weather without heavy rain. Both soil drainability and manpower are very essential to the cultivation of strawberries. Farmers try to grow this pricing fruit around Taiwan, especially in Miaoli county.

Japanese brought strawberries to Taiwan in 1934 and had small-scale cultivation in Luzhou, Wugu and Jinshan, Taipei. Yun Tien Lai and other villagers in Dahu got seedlings from Luzhou and devoted themselves to the cultivation for years before they finally succeeded. Later on, Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station continued to work on breeding and research together with farmers. Dahu became the land of strawberry after the Taiwanese government started to promote agri-tourism in 1998. From December to January, many tourists visit Dahu to enjoy diverse strawberry products, including but not limited to strawberry wine, strawberry sausage, strawberry cakes, strawberry jam, and strawberry cookies. The number of organic farmers has been gradually increased in the past 60 years. Two of them have been growing strawberries organically for more than 15 years.

High level of pesticide contamination is usually found in the produce of strawberries. Organic cultivation of strawberry is relatively difficult for farmers. Raised beds are becoming common practice to grow strawberries both outdoors and in greenhouses. Organic farmers grow strawberries with their own liquid fertilizer and microbe, disease biocontrol agents and etc. Mulch mat is the main practice of weed management. Pests like spider mites, thrips or aphids are often found in the greenhouses and can only be controlled by Neem oil or petroleum oil.

Strawberries are usually planted before or after the Mid-Autumn Festival (around mid or late September) and harvested in late December. The temperature during autumn has been getting higher and higher since 6 years ago. The warmer climate makes it more difficult to grow strawberry, especially for the variety “Fragaria × ananassa”. The variety “Aromas” started to be widely cultivated by Dahu farmers in 2010. Facing more severer challenges of climate change, Assistant Researcher Dai Lon Wu from Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station has bred more than 1,000 strawberry plants in a period of 6 years and finally selected the variety “ Lianshan (戀香)”, which has up to 16% sugar content and can be cultivated without using Gibberellin (plant hormone) and pesticide.

The delivery cost of strawberries is relatively high due to their fragility. Farmers in some areas choose cultivars that are more suitable for home delivery. For example, cultivar “Apple strawberry” is mainly cultivated in Shiwu District, “Fragaria × ananassa” and “Aromas” in Dahu District, and “Aromas” in Shitan, Miaoli.

Fruit picking is not acceptable by all farmers due to the fragility of strawberry and the increasing cultivation management risk of bacteria brought by visitors.

Texture

“Fragaria × ananassa”: It is the mostly cultivated variety. It has bright red color with very uneven skin. The fine flesh is very soft and juicy. When the fruit gets riper, the taste becomes milky.

“Aromas”: this variety has a big fruit size and smooth skin as well as a good balance of sweetness and acidity. Bakeries like to use this variety for its crunchy texture and sweetness of ripe fruit.

“White Strawberry”: It has pinkish skin and white flesh. It smells like peach and has a fluffy and juicy texture.

“Beauty Strawberry”: It has big fruit size and rich aroma with mild Longan hint. This variety gets rotten easily and is not easy to cultivate. Only few farmers plant this variety.

“Apple Strawberry”: This round-shape variety has firm texture and high yield. It is mainly planted in northern Taiwan.

“Lienshan Strawberry”: This variety has a big fruit size and high sugar content up to 16%. Pests, such as grasshoppers, can be prevented with biocontrol method. This variety is considered to be the future of strawberry cultivation for its pesticide-free feature.

Cultivation of organic strawberry varies in different areas in terms of cultivar, fruit shape, color, aroma, taste, planting method, pest and disease control. Climate change is a big challenge to farmers. The harvest months have shortened from 4 months to 3 months because of the heat. No matter how many difficulties farmers have to overcome, they always provide bright red strawberries lightening your heart in the cold winter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

參考引用文章：
草莓夢幻新品「戀香」誕生！
https://www.newsmarket.com.tw/blog/118733/
草莓王國大湖鄉
https://www.mdais.gov.tw/ws.php?id=1314
草莓控的知識補給
https://nommagazine.com/%E8%8D%89%E8%8E%93%E6%8E%A7%E7%9A%84%E7%9F%A5%E8%AD%98%E8%A3%9C%E7%B5%A6-%E9%97%9C%E6%96%BC%E8%8D%89%E8%8E%93%E7%9A%84%E5%93%81%E7%A8%AE%E3%80%81%E6%A0%BD%E5%9F%B9%E8%88%87%E6%87%89%E7%94%A8/