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| Kai-Yi Chen, associate professor at National Taiwan University, right, gives a presentation at World Vegetable Center headquarters in Tainan, Taiwan, May 17 (local time). Courtesy of Rural Development Administration |
By Lee Kyung-min
The Rural Development Administration (RDA) held a workshop on the Innovation and Approaches on Vegetable Breeding Technology in Asia from May 17 to 19 at the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) headquarters in Tainan, Taiwan, the agriculture ministry-affiliated organization said Tuesday.
The event was organized by the RDA through the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI) in partnership with the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) and WorldVeg.
Joined by principal investigators from 14 member countries and vegetable breeding experts from around Asia, this event served as a venue to share experiences and lessons learned in the development of technologies for breeding vegetables, particularly tomatoes and peppers.
During the discussions, areas for improvement and other potential future AFACI programs were explored.
Kai-Yi Chen, associate professor at National Taiwan University, gave a presentation about the current status of tomato farming and ways to improve it, according to the RDA.
Aside from the in-person workshop, the participants also got a chance to visit public and private vegetable breeding facilities in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Indonesia, Laos and Kyrgyzstan presented their results of developing four excellent pepper varieties and six tomato varieties suitable for their respective country's cultivation environment.
Laos has developed its first tomato variety and had it registered in Laos due to this project.
Additionally, 66 lines of excellent peppers and tomatoes were selected in nine countries including Vietnam.
This year, six kinds of peppers and 20 tomatoes will be registered.
"Tomatoes and peppers are important crops and sources of income for farmers in Asia, and are expected to contribute to increasing farm income and food security in Asian countries by utilizing varieties developed through AFACI and improving cultivation technology," said Kim Hwang-ryoung, director of the International Technology Cooperation Center and secretary general of AFACI.
This workshop will be followed by a four-day training initiative hosted by WorldVeg to further strengthen capacities in vegetable breeding.
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