Mango industry in Taiwan and its survival strategy in the global market

Abstract

Taiwan, which joined the World Trade Organization in 2002, has been working hard to restructure its agriculture in an attempt to increase the international competitiveness of agricultural commodities. This paper examines Taiwan's mango industry in the globalizing economy and possible ways of expanding the export of mangos to Japan, a niche market for Taiwanese growers. Intensive field studies were conducted in Yujing village, Tainan county which is Taiwan's major mango-producing region. Following the end of World War II, the Irwin mango was successfully introduced from Florida, USA, which promoted the commercial production of mangos. However, Yujing now faces such problems as the aging of farmers, shortage of successors, dependence on temporary labor, increasing production costs, and low market prices due to overproduction. Cooperative marketing by farmers associations is not functioning well. In addition, Taiwan's mangos, due to high production and delivery costs, are facing severe competition with products from other parts of the world in the Japanese market. Under such circumstances, a sustained market outlet needs to be established which could guarantee a stable market price so that farmers can continue to engage in mango production and to receive stable incomes. To achieve this, it is necessary to reinforce farmers' cooperative marketing as it protects farmers by stabilizing market prices and saving labor while ensuring the quantity required for export by cooperative sorting and grading of fruit. Farmers' cooperative marketing will also play an important role in coping with such problems as the aging of farmers, shortage of successors, and management of fields owned by elderly farmers. To maintain and develop mango exports to Japan, a system of traceability needs to be established as it is required in the Japanese market. Guaranteed purchase prices and contract farming may stabilize the supply of mangos. In the Japanese market, Taiwan also needs to enhance the value of its mangos with safety and quality. The price of Taiwan's mangos is lower than that of the same variety produced in Okinawa and Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, and therefore, it would be possible for Taiwan to expand the export of mangos to Japan targeting general consumers. As Taiwan's agricultural products, including mangos, have difficulties in competing in the international market, one method of increasing competitiveness is to establish a brand targeting a niche market. The strategy of production and marketing plays a key role in surviving in the global market.