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2012 ELECTIONS: Ma,
KMT miss key point in fruit price dispute: DPP
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
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.
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