A watermelon production hub in eastern Taiwan expects a 10% annual drop in the mid-May 2025 harvest due to foregoing spring cold.
According to Taiwan News, the 1,600 hectares (ha) under watermelon in Hualien County could reap some 20,000 tonnes this initial harvest.
In the lead is the Fenglin township, which tops the county’s watermelon acreage at 600 ha. The township however currently faces the cold aftermath and an aphid-transmitted ringspot virus.
Enter Weather
The upcoming harvest happens after the coldest spring in the country since 2011, with temperatures averaging 20.4ºC in April 2025.
Watermelon is sensitive to cold and frost, both of which stunt growth and promote fungal infections.
Luckily, in May, Hualien’s temperatures rise to an average 25.4ºC average, according to the Weather site.
May in Taiwan brings at least 22 days of rainfall, which together with the rising heat accelerate the watermelon harvest.
Besides, a spike in temperatures fans pest activity, which highlights the ongoing fight against aphids in Fenglin.
The Harvest
From around May 15, the Hualein watermelon harvest will be underway, reprising an annual calendar.
Initial output forecasts are at 20,000 tonnes, slightly below the average first bout that the county usually realizes.
Taiwan as a whole reaps at least 139,049 tonnes of watermelon annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Despite the production downturn in 2025, local fruits are distinctive for their large sizes, sometimes reaching over 25 kg apiece.
According to Hualien County’s magistrate Hsu Chen-Wei, the local climate nourishes sweet and quality watermelon that attract consumers.
On the other side of sweetness are rising watermelon prices, per the county’s agriculture department’s director, Chen Shu-wen.
Early May 2025 offers were at 17 Taiwanese dollars ($0.56) per 600 g wholesale and up to 25 dollars ($0.82) retail.
To combat such rises, the department of agriculture is advising farmers to access and plant ringspot virus-free seedlings. The measure will insure the next season’s surplus and contain market rates. And as the statistics below indicate, eastern Taiwan prides in handsome watermelon production, a leading horticultural produce.
Taiwan Watermelon Production Statistics
Situated on the southeast coastline of China, Taiwan ranks 46th in watermelon production worldwide at 156,100 tonnes, as of 2022. It rounds up a Far-East quadruple featuring China, Japan and South Korea in the top echelons of global production.
How has watermelon production in Taiwan performed annually?
According to the FAOSTAT, Taiwan produced between over 136,000 and 220,000 tonnes of watermelon in the 2018-2023 timeline. The following table illustrates the succinct details.
| Production Year | Total [tonnes] |
| 2023 | 139,049 |
| 2022 | 136,632 |
| 2021 | 151,190 |
| 2020 | 163,501 |
| 2019 | 176,004 |
| 2018 | 220,846 |
How has acreage been shaping up in Taiwan’s watermelon sector?
Unlike fluctuating production, the cultivated area of watermelon in Taiwan has been dropping since 2018. While 2018’s acreage topped at 10,591 hectares (ha), by 2013 it had bottomed out at 7,303 ha. In-between, 2019 had 8,213 ha, 2020 some 7,644 ha and 2022 some 7,317 ha.
Is neighboring China a major consumer of watermelons?
Geographically situated off Taiwan, China is not only the world’s biggest producer of watermelon but the foremost consumer, too. The country consumes 70 million tonnes of fresh watermelon annually (2021) or 50 kg per person per year.