The Department’s research activities focus on the improvement of varieties and cultivation techniques of major vegetable crops in Taiwan. The breeding efforts have resulted in the release of the following varieties in the past. For watermelon: seedless Fengshan No. 1 for exportation. For cauliflower: Extra Early Maturing Fengshan and Late Maturing Fengshan that render year-round production. For non-heading Chinese cabbage: Fengshan non-heading Chinese cabbage, high-yielding and high-sugar Tainung No. 1, and dark-green, long shelf-life Tainung No. 3. For onion: selections of Early Grano, Granex, Yellow Granex 429, Cal 303, Cal 505, Cal 606, and Cal 707. For garlic: selections of Fengshan No. 1, 2 and 98, and A10-2. In the recent years, the varietal improvement programs concentrate on heat tolerance and disease resistance of tropical vegetables. There are a significant number of recently released varieties. Mustard varieties include Tainung No. 2, which is fast growing, heat tolerant and anthracnose resistant, and Tainung No. 3, which is moderately resistant to turnip mosaic virus. Broccoli Tainung No. 1, has purple curd and is heat tolerant and early maturing. For bitter gourd, a heat-tolerant hybrid line with bright white rind has been selected. Other new lines that have been selected include a heat- and flood-tolerant radish line with good root shape, and a water convolvulus line resistant to white rust. Currently the breeding program is employing inter-generic and inter-specific hybridization techniques to transfer male sterility and black rot resistance traits to various Brassica vegetables.
