Sun, Apr 03, 2005 page17

• Taiwan's green revolution involves

  The highly successful local orchid industry produces cash-rich crops in an environmentally friendly way

  • Word and photos by Derek Lee / STAFF REPORTER
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  Orchid cultivation can be difficult. From pollination to bloom, the growth process generally takes two-and-a-half years. Yet there are many orchid enthusiasts and tradition deems the long wait to be worth it. The oval-shaped phalaenopsis amabilis -- or moth orchid (蝴蝶蘭) -- is often seen blossoming elegantly in people's homes each spring.

  Orchids nowadays are of many hues and patterns and some of the favorites are white, yellow and orange-to-dark brown. Others have striped patterns or large and small dots. The most popular orchid in Taiwan, however, is the native phalaenopsis amabilis var Formosana (台灣原生種白花蝴蝶蘭), partly because the flower is endemic and also because it's pure, white color inspires a feeling of spirituality in many people.

  The late Dr Chiba Masaaki (千葉雅亮), a Japanese botanist and orchid enthusiast, defined the Taiwan orchid as having small, oval-shaped flowers, 5.5cm to 6cm in diameter (anything larger than 7cm is considered a large flower, according to international floral trade practices set by the Dutch). It blooms abundantly and there have been cases of a single cultivated plant bearing 200 flowers at once.

  

  It grows in remote areas of the country, in counties south of the Tropic of Cancer, according to Professor Shen Rong-show (沈榮壽) from National Chiayi University, who added that the Tropic runs along Chiayi County's borders. The Taiwan orchid is also found in the Philippines, parts of Borneo and Java in Indonesia. It's major natural habitats are in Ta Wu Mountain and (大武山) Orchid Island (蘭嶼), in Taitung County. Due to over-harvesting, however, wild plants have been rare in recent decades.

  Taking advantage of the favorable natural orchid-growing environment in Chiayi, Professor Shen and four of his colleagues are setting up and maintaining greenhouses for research purposes. Every greenhouse is constantly monitored and controlled by computers that keep an electronic eye on lighting intensity, air moisture, ventilation, temperatures (between 24?C and 25?C during the day and between 18?C and 19?C at night).

  Assisted by a group of dedicated graduate students, gorgeous new prize-winning orchids are produced by hybridization. The university's latest creation is derived from a genus of orchids called the violocea. It is currently called HT107 and does not have an official name yet, but it has a subtle and delightful fragrance. Among the world's orchid species, only two kinds are known to yield a fragrance and HT107 is one of them, said Professor Lily Chien (簡麗環).

  

  The HT107 is currently the shining star at the International Orchid Show, running until April 10 in Hobi (後壁), Tainan County, and has been awarded the grand prize.

  At least one local business group has shown interest in reproducing this exquisite orchid scent for commercial purposes.

  Chiayi University is the only higher-education establishment to conduct academic research on orchid breeding, propagation, preservation and the stocking of endemic orchid species worldwide. It is something of a brain trust in the worldwide orchid industry.

  Another one of its achievements is a fruitful cooperation with I-Hsin Biotec Inc (一心生物科技公司) in one of the university's joint-venture projects with a commercial organization.

  I-Hsin is one of the biggest orchid companies in Taiwan and is run by the Jian family, whose members are mostly graduates from Chiayi university's department of horticulture. The company has stolen the show at the Tainan International Orchid Show with a range of high-tech products that produce large and multi-flowering types of white- and red-flowered phalaenopsis. The company is also well-known for producing high-quality dendrobiums (石斛蘭), cattleyas (嘉德麗亞蘭) and other species of orchids.

  Traditionally, Japan and the US have been Taiwan's two major orchid-export markets, netting NT$391 million and NT$221 million from these two countries, respectively, last year.

  Chiayi University has also set its sights on capturing a greater share of the European orchid market.

  Since Europeans by-and-large buy small-sized orchids, Professor Shen and his colleagues are now trying to breed miniature species with smaller blossoms that bear as many flowers as possible on each plant. This should challenge the Dutch growers in Europe.

  Good orchids can bear flowers for as long as three months, but nowadays they do not just bloom in spring. Simple regulation techniques in greenhouses can ensure that orchids bloom all year long.

  There seems to be no limit to the innovation of the local orchid industry, but it was the Taiwan Sugar Company that initially started orchid research in 1988 at its Wushulin (烏樹林) sugar plantation in Hobi and showed the way for hundreds of rice farmers to turn to orchid growing.

  Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) estimates there are more than 500 commercial orchid growers in Taiwan. Of these, more than half are located in the Tainan and Chiayi area and their yearly output exceeds 70 percent of the country's total production. Su said the value of sales was around US$100 million (but official figures are lower).

  However, intensifying competition from rival countries such as The Netherlands, Costa Rica and China is worrying local growers. For instance, orchid farmers in China (ironically, many of them are from Taiwan) have been applying low-cost tactics to penetrate the global market for years. Dutch orchid traders can take advantage of their strong international sales networks to push their products. In fact, the commercial orchid battle between Taiwan and Holland has become so intense that neither of them will trade new species any more.

  Su predicted all this would happen and four years ago helped win central government support for the industry with a NT$2.06 billion investment in a large-scale industrial park, the Taiwan Orchid Plantation (TOP), which covers an area of 200 hectares in Hobi.

  The park includes a permanent exposition hall and trading office complex equipped with greenhouses ranging in size from 1,150m2 to 3,471m2. There are also genetic-modification laboratories, and the academic research center at National Chiayi University.

  The TOP project -- expected to be completed in 2008 -- is going smoothly with more than 40 orchid companies committed to move into the park. The International Orchid Show held inside the park this year intends to tell the world that Taiwanese orchid farmers are organizing themselves into large-scale international enterprises, with massive amounts of investment from the government.

  Su said TOP is primarily designed to impress international buyers by offering the opportunity for face-to-face contact with Taiwanese orchid farmers so that the buyers can have a close look at the producers' facilities before they conclude business deals.

  It is clear both the government and entrepreneurs have high hopes for the orchid industry and intend it to become another commercial success story like the IT industry. But instead of making motherboards the orchid industry produces cash-rich crops in an environmentally friendly way.
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