The branch was established in 1940 at Fengshan District (22°33' N and 120°22'E), Kaohsiung City, in southern Taiwan, and is devoted to researching and developing tropical fruit and vegetables. Activities are carried out by the three departments, including the department of tropical fruit trees, the department of vegetable crops, and the department of plant protection and utilization. Department of tropical fruit trees research activities emphasized improvement of varieties and cultivation techniques such as germplasm introduction, selection and cross-breeding of papaya, mango, lychee, passion fruit, carambola, Indian jujube, wax apple, guava, etc., production season regulation, improvement of cultivation techniques, fertilization management, postharvest treatment to increase fruit quality. Department of vegetable crops research focuses on improving heat tolerance and disease resistance varieties, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese kale, bitter gourd, etc. Especially the study of disease-resistant rootstock on grafting Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae crops and black rot resistance on Brassicaceae vegetables. Department of plant protection and utilization is dedicated to ecological, non-chemical pesticides or integrated control for pests and diseases of tropical horticultural crops and the development of rapid detection technology for plant pests and diseases, and also committed to the innovation of crop processing technology and the development and application of health care and aesthetic medical materials. The department is devoted to safe cultivation and value increase of crops.