BAMBOO SHOOT PRICES DOUBLE AFTER POOR HARVEST|雨少土壤乾旱 關廟綠筍產量減 價格漲近2倍

Those who have been grocery shopping may have noticed that the prices of green bamboo shoots have lately surged to 80 dollars per catty, or per 600 grams. The surge is mainly due to low yield caused by little rain over the last winter. Here's our report. After cooking green bamboo shoots and letting them cool off, they are delicious even without the addition of mayonnaise. Restaurants which use a whole bamboo shoot sell it for NT$100 a plate and the cost price is twice as high as last year. This year there is a scarce harvest that has many restaurant owners shaking their heads, but they can only cover the shortfall themselves. ==RESTAURANT OWER== The price has gone up. A lot of us are complaining. It's gone up by NT$30 to NT$40 dollars. The Dragon Boat Festival holiday is also the season for the green bamboo shoot harvest. In previous years, a catty was NT$30 to NT$40, but this year it has gone up to NT$80. In Tainan's Kuanmiao, a prime growing region, this year, if the bamboo is not discolored, it is withered, or flowers without producing shoots, so the farmers face having no shoots to harvest. ==KUO CHUNG Produce Vendor Association Director== The rainy season came too late. It's raining now alright, but the bamboo shoots have sprouted. Normally we would have about 20 thousand catties by this time of the year, but this year there's only three to four thousand catties. Due to climate effects, many farmers have switched to pineapple. ==KUO CHUNG Produce Vendor Association Director== The prices of pineapples have been high in the past few years, so it's a good fallback. If we plant them with bamboo at the same time, they will be ready in the first year, and the bamboo will be ready in the second. Green bamboo shoots are coming in to the wholesalers at the rate of only 3,000 to 4,000 catties a day. Last year there were 20,000 catties a day, so now the price is high. Although expensive, restaurants and wholesalers rush to buy bamboo, afraid of being without it, but they can only absorb the extra cost themselves. Consumers who want to wait until the price stabilizes will have to do so for at least one month. TRANSLATED BY：JEFF CHANG 端午前後，正好就是綠竹筍盛產季。不過，由於去年入冬後，少雨乾旱，產地台南關廟，一天的進貨量就只有3千、4千斤，跟去年一天2萬斤比，差很多，也因為量少一斤賣到80元。 綠竹筍燙熟放涼之後，不用加上美乃滋看起來就很美味；餐廳業者用整隻的綠竹筍下去切，一盤賣100元，但成本卻比去年貴2倍，今年綠竹筍量少，貴到老闆直搖頭，但成本只能自己吸收。 ==餐廳業者== 比較貴啊 老闆買到哀哀叫 剛沒聽到他說多貴30、40元 對啊 原來端午連續假期，正是綠竹筍產季，往年1台斤只要30、40元，今年卻賣到80元，漲了將近2倍，而到產地台南關廟一看，竹子不是變色、枯萎，就是開花，結不出筍子來，筍農面臨割不到筍子的窘境。 ==關廟果菜生產合作社主席 郭忠== 雨季慢來 太晚到了 現在下雨 筍子剛好在長而已 以前歷年來的話 這個時間的筍子 已經差不多進貨量2萬台斤 今年度剩下3000、4000斤而已 農民努力巡視，卻還是割不到綠竹筍，但其實除了氣候影響之外，其中還有一個原因，就是農民轉作鳳梨。 ==關廟果菜生產合作社主席 郭忠== 這幾年鳳梨價格真的很好 不然就種鳳梨 轉作一下 綠竹筍種下去要兩年 才能採收 剛好鳳梨剛採收完 再收綠竹筍 所以一兼兩顧 綠竹筍一天的進貨量就只有3000、4000台斤，跟去年一天2萬台斤比差很多，因此價格也高漲，但即使價格貴，包括餐廳、批發商也都要來搶貨，就是怕斷貨，但成本也只能自己吸收，而消費者若想等到價錢回穩，至少還要一個月。 記者 溫正衡 台南報導