By／MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department
Recently, sunflowers have become the representative flower of student movements, and Pingtung is the main winter production area for sunflowers across Taiwan, with Yenpu Township having the highest cultivation—about 20-plus hectares. Flower farmer Lin Jin-lian says that recent demand has increased by 1-2%, and at peak times, more than 1,200 stems are harvested daily.
Pingtung is Taiwan’s main winter production area for sunflowers. (Photo provided by Pingtung County Government Agriculture Department)
Sunflowers are plants of the Asteraceae family, also known as sunflowers or helianthus, named for their flower heads that turn to follow the sun. Pingtung’s mild climate is ideal for cultivation, especially in winter when other regions face low temperatures or rainy seasons that hinder growth—making Pingtung sunflowers stand out uniquely.
Lin Jin-lian originally grew foliage plants long-term but switched to short-season flowering plants like sunflowers and cockscomb flowers two years ago. She says that sunflowers are planted around the Mid-Autumn Festival each year, take about 45-50 days to bloom, and she plants them in batches every 5-7 days according to the harvest season, allowing for sequential harvesting until the graduation season in June and July.
She currently cultivates about 1.2 hectares, and during high-yield periods, she can harvest over 1,000 stems per day. After harvesting, the sunflowers are bound around the stems with lead wire to keep them straight, increasing their commercial value. Each bundle contains 10 stems, and one box can hold 12 bundles, which are sent to flower markets across Taiwan for auction. The current auction price is around NT$50 per bundle.
She noted that traditional black-center yellow sunflowers and new green-center yellow varieties each have different markets based on consumer preference.
Sunflowers can bloom and be harvested all year round, but Pingtung’s main flowering seasons are winter and spring. Recently, student movements have also driven up the demand for sunflowers.
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