The main task of the Department of Vegetable Crops is to improve the varieties of essential vegetables and improve cultivation techniques. Over the years, we have had prominent achievements: Fengshan No. 1 seedless watermelon was bred in the early days, and seeds were exported in large quantities. Fengshan extremely early-mature and Fengshan late-mature cauliflower varieties were selected for year-round production. High-quality Tainung No. 1 pak choi and Tainung No. 3 pak choi with light green leaf color, high yield, high yield, and strong resistant to Rhizoctonia was bred for summer production. Good onion lines such as Early Grano, Granex, Yellow Granex 429, Cal 303, Cal 505, Cal 606, and Cal 707 were selected. Garlic Fengshan select No. 1, Fengshan select No.2, No. 98, and A10-2 were selected, and healthy garlic production was developed. Two red-skinned and one white-skinned onion varieties were selected, with uniform bulbs, good bulb shape, and less bolting. To improve vegetable cultivation technology, we researched the production of early garlic bulbs to meet market demand and guide the production of summer green garlic. Developed labor-saving improved floating root hydroponic cultivation, which can overcome the high temperature in summer and produce short-term leafy vegetables year-round. Established greenhouse hydroponic cultivation to produce high-quality cantaloupe with high sugar content, good netting, and fine pulp.

Recently, in response to climate change, such as sudden temperature fluctuation and heavy rainfall, our research focused on vegetable varieties' heat-tolerant, cold-resistant, and disease-resistant breeding. Bitter gourd Tainung No. 7 has strong heat resistance and is suitable for summer cultivation in the net house. The fruit is pearl white and shines without bagging, with delicate flesh and good taste. The fruit is moderate in size, and the average weight is 450 ~600 grams, suitable for a small family. Chinese kale Fengshan No. 1 is early mature and heat-tolerant. The whole plant has less fiber, a delicate taste, and a slightly sweet taste without bitterness. It is suitable for cultivation in high-temperature environments in summer. The high-quality purple cauliflower Tainung No. 1 is early mature, with compact and delicate curd, green stalk, loose curd, rich in anthocyanins, and suitable for autumn and winter production. Cauliflower Fengshan No. 2 is a heat-resistant, early mature, semi-loos curd, and light-green stalk. It is high quality, delicate in taste, and acceptable to consumers. It can form curds spontaneously in high-temperature facilities. We cooperated with AVRDC-World Vegetable Center to breed broccoli Tainung AVRDC No. 3, which has heat tolerance, early maturity, and few lateral branches.

Welsh onion Tainung select No. 1 is a year-round production variety with an upright plant type, strong tillering, and green leaf color. The texture is more tender than 'Bei chung' with a rich aroma and relative heat tolerance, which is suitable for cultivation in spring and summer in the southern region of Taiwan. Chinese mustard Tainung No. 3 is ideal for spring production, and the cultivation period is about 31 days. It has a crisp taste and good quality. Chinese mustard Tainung No. 2 has heat resistance, wet resistance, anthracnose resistance, rapid growth, crisp taste, fine fiber, and high quality. It can be harvested 29 days after sowing in summer, which is much faster than current varieties. Eggplant Fengshan No. 3 is a hybrid rootstock variety resistant to bacterial wilt. It has authorized a seedling nursery to produce tomato-grafted seedlings. It has been successfully promoted to middle-altitude mountain areas in summer and used for grafting beef tomatoes to reduce the damage of bacterial wilt. In autumn, grafted seedings are used in facilities in the lowlands for cherry tomato cultivation to reduce bacterial wilt and increase sweetness to 1-2 degrees. Eggplant rootstock Fengshan No. 3 has promoted more than one million seedlings annually. We screen suitable vegetables for photoelectric greenhouses, including Chinese cabbage, pak choi, rape, lettuce, pepper, etc. We screen onion varieties with high dry matter content and suitable for storage.