The 2011 Taiwan Watermelon Festival, featuring fruit carvings, a cuisine contest and a quality assessment competition, will open in Yunlin County May 14, the Council of Agriculture said.
“Watermelons are harvested between April and August every year,” Dennis Wang, director of the COA’s Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, said May 11.
“We aim to promote consumption of the fruit through the event,” he noted, adding that quality evaluation of watermelons can help boost their price.
According to Wang, one great feature of this year’s festival is the introduction of watermelons as gifts. Consumers will be able to place orders online for square watermelons with customized carving, and hand them out as presents.
The festival is also a platform for farmers to exchange and enhance their cultivation techniques, Wang said, adding that the variety of watermelons in Taiwan is the best in the world. “About 25 percent of seeds planted worldwide come from Taiwan.”
Watermelon seed exports—mainly to Australia, Canada, Japan, the Philippines and the U.S.—bring in around NT$200 million (US$7 million) annually, according to Wang.
Hualien County, Tainan City and Yunlin County are the major watermelon production regions in Taiwan, he added. (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw