Nantou County’s Guoxing Township, a Hakka settlement in central Taiwan, was once an important citronella producing area in Taiwan. Almost every household was growing citronella. In the 1950s, the citronella oil produced here accounted for 70% of the global supply. Liu Chang-kun (劉昌坤) said that more than 60 years ago, a 200-catty (1 catty = 0.6 kg) barrel of citronella oil could be exchanged for a three-section compound house. Lemongrass could be said to be the "green gold" in the field. However, the emergence of chemical fragrant essential oil after the 1960s caused the price of lemongrass to plummet, and the lemongrass industry in Guoxing gradually declined and later disappeared. During the 921 Earthquake in 1999, Nantou was the epicenter and was hit hard. Liu couldn't bear to see the economic downturn in his hometown. Therefore, he decided to inherit the method and equipment for extracting citronella oil from his father, and invested in revitalizing the traditional citronella industry, establishing the Akun Lemongrass Workshop.
(Images: FTV)
The extraction of citronella oil is quite laborious. First, the citronella grass in the field needs to be harvested, and then sundried for about a week to remove the moisture. If the sun is not dry enough, the extracted citronella oil cannot be preserved. Then the dried citronella grass is put into a large iron bucket that is more than 2 meters high and filled with hot water. The citronella grass is continuously heated to produce water vapor containing citronella oil. After the water vapor passes through the iron pipe, it enters the cooling bucket. Through the process of oil-water separation, the yellow citronella oil is produced and can be used without any processing.
Although the production of citronella essential oil is very cumbersome and takes a lot of physical strength and endurance to make, Liu Chang-kun still insists on using this ancient method of making it. He also uses lemongrass as a local feature to develop leisure farming and aromatic industries, giving new life to this product. After Liu spent a year planting citronella in his own field of more than three hectares, and at the same time developing related products, he decided to turn his plantation into a leisure farm. Not only is his citronella farm open to visitors for free, he also allows them to experience the process of making citronella oil. As a result, his farm has become a great source of fun and a great way for visitors to get a different kind of sightseeing experience in Nantou.