The Taipei fruit and vegetable market has been closed for too long, local farmers' associations have spread discontent, and the Council of Agriculture is "unacceptable" to the northern city government.

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In response to the controversy caused by the closure of the Taipei fruit and vegetable auction market, the controversy has become more and more intense, with farmers' associations in many areas scolding, saying that the explosive price drop is not just the continuous harvest crops proposed by the Meinung Peasants' Association.

Take Ilan white garlic as an example. The average auction price of white garlic in Ilan was 64 yuan per kilogram on February 27 last year, but on the same day this year, it was 21 yuan per kilogram. In the face of farmers' suffering, the staff of the peasant association scolded, "the difference is more than three times. Farmers come to the peasant association to ask. I have no idea how to ask the farmer about the price of vegetables." Some peasant associations also mentioned privately, "Meinung, it's just that the price is not good. The goods sent out by our peasant association on that day have been scrapped, and some farmers are already choking us to find a reporter to cover the matter with the peasant association!"

In order to settle the dispute as soon as possible, the Council of Agriculture held a special meeting on March 1 and issued a press release to express its position: "it is unacceptable for the Taipei Fruit and vegetable Wholesale Market to have two consecutive days off for three days in a short period of 12 days." In the face of further confirmation by the reporter, Deputy Chairman Chen Jizhong also said firmly: "the Council of Agriculture is unacceptable to the Taipei City Government Market Management Office for two three-day closures within 12 days, not aimed at Bei Nong."

Chung Ching-hui, director-general of the Meinung District Peasants' Association, who used to be a director of the Taipei Agricultural products Transportation and Marketing Company (hereinafter referred to as "Beinong"), said: "to close the market is to close the market, and everyone has no opportunity to buy and sell agricultural products at all, so the arrangements for the suspension of the market must be particularly cautious." He stressed time and again, "once the market is closed, and the market is closed for three days in a row, the worst thing is, of course, the farmers who watch the crops grow up but cannot ship the goods. There is nothing the farmers can do but worry about being angry! "

Auctioneers undertake hard work (non-news parties in the picture, Photography / Li Huiyi)

Farmers are helpless and market personnel are aggrieved, how to adjust the decision-making process of closing the market?

In the face of all this, including the bitterness and helplessness of farmers and the grievances of grass-roots employees in the market, is there any way to avoid it? Can the decision-making process of closing the market by majority consensus be adjusted? Did Beinong take emergency measures on that day?

Gao Zhenxiang, section chief of Beishi City, said that Beinong should play the function of rapid collection and distribution, and timely provide up-to-date information to the Central Committee of Agriculture, so that the relevant units can jointly promote the early deployment of the production season and the evacuation of goods on the same day. In response, Wu Tianming, manager of Bei Nong, responded: "more than 120 employees and cadres of the auction team are desperately auctioning at the scene, and they are also desperately urging the underwriters to enter the market, and no one dares to leave the work post at all."

With regard to the majority consensus decision on the suspension plan, Gao Zhenxiang believes that when consumers buy things in the market, they usually buy enough chicken, duck, fish, meat, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables at one time. If the suspension of green fruit, fish and livestock is not unified, it will affect the end market buying gas. He said, "the overall efficiency will be poor, and it would be more appropriate to unify the market closure as far as possible." However, manager Wu Tianming of Beinong said strongly that if the future is still a unified decision-making process of suspending the market, as long as the issue of suspending the market for more than two days, Bei Nong will insist on opposing it. "We have to avoid such an impact again. Once is enough!"

Chen Jizhong, vice chairman of the Council of Agriculture, stressed that the characteristics of agricultural and grain crops are very different from those of fishery and livestock products. "I strongly expressed at the emergency meeting of the Beishi government, the Agriculture and Food Administration, and Beinong yesterday that it is absolutely impossible to close the market for three days or more in a row in the future. This has too great an impact on farmers." In addition, since this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is also closed for three days from September 24 to September 26, Chen Jizhong said that he had made a special decision at the meeting to adjust the number of days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival ahead of time, and invited the participating units to bring back discussions.

Chung Ching-hui, director-general of the Meinung Peasants' Association, stressed that the Beishi government market must strike a balance between consumers and places of origin. It cannot be said that the majority consensus is absolutely right, and that it should be considered in the "best interests of the public." He believes that apart from the Spring Festival, the market should not be closed for more than two days, because once the market is closed for three days or more, the freshness of fruits and vegetables bought by consumers is by no means very good, and producers will face the dilemma that they cannot sell. He further explained, "the market is closed when the market is closed. Once the door is closed, no one has a chance." Come to think of it, if the auction market is open, farmers can decide whether to ship or not, and the underwriter can also decide whether or not to enter the market, but once the market is closed, no one has the right to choose. "

Chung Ching-hui repeatedly said, "if you open the door of the fruit and vegetable market, the volume and price will naturally return to the mechanism of the supply and demand market to find a balance."

Taipei Fruit and vegetable Market is closed for 6 days within 12 days! Red fruits and vegetables are ripe and there is a big traffic jam, and farmers feel heartache when the price falls.

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