"Taiwan Vegetable Variety Open House" - Vegetable Seeds and Seedlings Advance into the New Southbound Countries

To open up seed and seedling markets in New Southbound countries, the Council of Agriculture (COA) joined hands with the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Association to promote an overseas trial planting program for vegetable varieties. After 2 years of market surveys and demonstration and extension in Thailand, it was shown that many Taiwanese vegetable varieties have market advantages in Thailand. In particular, yesterday (the 21st), a "Taiwan Vegetable Variety Open House" was held at the World Vegetable Center's Thailand office, inviting the Thai Seed Trade Association and related businesses to observe the fields. It is hoped that by combining Taiwan's seed industry R&D capacity with Thailand's channel advantages, Taiwanese and Thai seed businesses can be matched to seek business opportunities together, create a win-win for the seed industries of both Taiwan and Thailand, and establish a new model of cross-border cooperation.

The COA stated that Taiwanese vegetable seed businesses have long been committed to the development of hybrid varieties, especially for tropical vegetables such as tomato, cauliflower, pepper and pumpkin. The varieties they have developed have high quality, high yield and uniformity, making them very suitable for cultivation in New Southbound countries. In recent years, the economies of New Southbound countries have continued to grow, and demand for high-quality vegetable varieties has increased day by day, making this an emerging seed and seedling market that our country cannot ignore. To help Taiwan's seed industry open up markets across borders, the COA worked together with the World Vegetable Center and the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Association to quickly screen out recommended varieties suited to Thai consumers' tastes and highly accepted by the market, helping 8 domestic seed companies conduct trial plantings directly in Thailand, and inviting members of the Thai Seed Trade Association and local businesses to observe the fields.

The "Taiwan Vegetable Variety Open House" was held smoothly with strong assistance from our representative office in Thailand. On site, 30 tomato varieties, 27 cauliflower varieties, 18 pepper varieties and 9 pumpkin varieties from our country were displayed, and tastings of tomato, pumpkin and pepper were provided. Attending businesses included members of the Thai Seed Trade Association such as East-West Seed and Chia Tai Seed, as well as well-known local seed companies. About 140 people attended this exhibition.