Chen Wen-yu (陳文郁), supplier of nearly 25 percent of the world’s watermelon seeds, died on Dec. 7 at the age of 88.
A funeral service for Chen, who developed the world’s first seedless watermelon in 1962, is scheduled to be held tomorrow in Greater Kaohsiung.
Chen earned the name the “Watermelon King” because he produced more than 200 varieties of watermelons during his 44-plus years in the business.
Photo: Hsieh Wen-hua, Taipei Times
“My goal is to create the world’s most delicious watermelon,” he once said. “If you taste such a watermelon, you will not seek other watermelons.”
Born and raised in a rural village in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康), Chen was very aware of the hardship farmers experienced and decided when he was 14 that he would study agricultural technology to help improve farmers’ lives.
With funding from the US Agency for International Development, he pursued advanced studies in horticulture at Chiba University in Japan. He later returned to Taiwan and founded the Kaohsiung-based Known-You Seed Co with his friends in 1968.
The name “Known-You” can be transliterated as “friends of farmers” in Mandarin.
Chen’s company focuses on developing new varieties of watermelon seeds, but has also created more than 500 new vegetable and flower varieties.
“It takes good seedlings to produce good varieties. We provide farmers with good seeds to help them reap better harvests,” he said.
These seeds “are provided to farmers in Taiwan and around the world,” the company said in a statement after Chen’s death.
The company has a seedling farm in the US and branch offices in China, India and several Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand.
Chen also set up a foundation to help improve local farmers’ welfare and funded the establishment of a hospital in Myanmar to provide free medical services for farmers there.
In recognition of Chen’s contributions to agriculture and farmers’ welfare, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last year conferred on him the Order of Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon.
Chen was also featured on the Discovery Channel in 2006 as one of six most influential Taiwanese.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS