White and green asparagus varieties Tainan Selection 1 and 3
Winter porudction of green asparagus in the PE-sheet tunnel culture
INTRODUCTION TO
TAINAN
DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL
RESEARCH & EXTENSION STATION, COA
Breeding work is focused on asparagus, muskmelon, garlic, tomato, cabbage and cucumber. Asparagus varieties Tainan Selections 1, 2 and 3, released in 1984, have vigorous growth, compact spear tips, and uniform spears. At present, the station focuses on all-male variety breeding.
Muskmelon varieties released from the station are Tainan 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Ongoing studies are on breeding for resistance to powdery mildew and gummy stem blight diseases, and for long shelf life.
Cucumber breeding has identified a gynoecious and parthnocarpy line with good fruit quality, which is suitable for protected cultivation.
In cooperation with AVRDC, the station has released processing tomato varieties Tainan Selection 2 and Tainan 3 and heat-tolerant cherry tomato variety Tainan ASVEG 6 and Tainan ASVEG 11. This station has released a yellow cherry tomato variety, Tainan No.12. Tomato breeding will be focused on multi-color, cluster tomato, tomato leaf curl virus and root knot nematode resistance in the future.
Self-incompatibility of cabbage can be overcome by CO2 treatment. This technique along with the vernalization method has been developed for cabbage breeding in sub-tropical areas. It can successfully induce cabbage flowering and adequate seed production. These techniques are also applied in the seed production of cauliflower and broccoli. A PCR-RFLP technique developed by the Horticulture Research International (HIR) has been applied to identify self-incompatibility genotypes of common cabbage. The commercialized seed production technique for cabbage and cauliflower has been transferred to industry.
White and green asparagus varieties Tainan Selection 1 and 3 |
Winter porudction of green asparagus in the PE-sheet tunnel culture |
 Muskmelon variety Tainan 9 |
 Muskmelon gummy stem blight resistant line |
 Cherry tomato variety Tainan ASVEG 6 |
 Cluster tomato |
 Cherry tomato variety Tainan ASVEG 11 |
 Yellow cherry tomato Tainan 12 |
 Seed production of cabbage after vernalization and then planted in the pot (left) or in the field (right) |
 Muskmelon beds mulched with degredable PE film |
   Cabbage seeds can be produced by CO2 treatment and releasing bees in the net house |
Cultural practice improvements include:
l the use of polyethylene-sheet tunnels to produce various vegetables, such as green asparagus and muskmelon, in the winter season; tunnels used to grow muskmelon can be reused for other vegetables after harvest;
l the use of new covering materials, such as nonwoven fabrics, to force vegetables;
l the development and use of degradable plastic film mulch; and
l the development of protective production system for cluster tomato, and grafting technique to avoid problems associated with intensive and successive cropping in tomato production.