Breeder Xu Zhisheng to Retire, Taikeng No. 9 and Taichung 194 Mark the Peaks of His Career

Hsu Chih-sheng, a researcher at the Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, has successively bred the renowned-for-their-eating-quality Taikeng No. 9 and Taichung 194. Many agronomy personnel describe him as specializing in breeding varieties with modest yields but excellent quality.

In the 1970s, as Taiwan's economy took off, the focus of breeding shifted from yield to grain quality. When Hsu Chih-sheng took over from his predecessors in breeding Taikeng No. 9, he already knew this variety had a relatively low yield. When it was submitted for review in 1993, he particularly emphasized its grain quality. At that time, rice naming used the most widely cultivated Tainung 67 as the reference variety, and there had been no precedent of a variety with a yield lower than Tainung 67 winning a successful naming.

To convince the 15 review committee members of Taikeng No. 9's merits, the station specially attached the earlier eating-quality test results, but the breeding staff were still very anxious. Fortunately, during the formal review, Taikeng No. 9's grain quality and eating quality won unanimous praise from the review committee members, and Taiwan's breeding has since moved toward a refined path. After the success of Taikeng No. 9, the subsequently bred Taichung 194 was even more of a peak achievement.

(This article received funding for personnel expenses from a Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation project, but the foundation had absolutely no interference in news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring news independence.)