Oncidium Champion King—Chen Wen-qin

(by Zeng Wen-tien, Harvest Farm Magazine)

The oncidium loved by consumers at home and abroad won the reputation of being a “dancing girl” for its gorgeous posture. While flowers on the spike are plentiful and small, the oncidium is easier to pack and more durable to transport than the phalaenopsis. It is suitable for both sea and air transportation. Therefore, it is the top cut flower export of Taiwan in terms of quantity.

In recent years, the Harvest Floral Production and Marketing Group headed by Zeng Wen-tien from Zutien Township of Pingtung County formed a strategic alliance with the Daeng and Huo floral production and marketing groups of Taichung, thus sharing a fifth of the country’s total floral export. The leader Chen Wen-qin of the Third Zutien Township Floral Production and Marketing Group, was thus elected as the winner of the Shen Nong Award 2005.

Chen is a retired lieutenant colonel of the ROC Air Force. After returning home in 1993, he went to Indonesia with his father-in-law to run a farm by importing bean seedlings to Taiwan. This first contact with agriculture taught Chen that this is a laborious business which takes time to bear fruits. Even though he ran a successful business overseas, he could not reproduce the success back home in Taiwan. Therefore, he decided to return to Taiwan and focus on running an agricultural business in Taiwan after much deliberation.

Zutien Township in Pingtung County has a long history of floral practice. A floral production and marketing group was established in 1984. They learned how to cultivate the oncidium from central Taiwan in 1992. After 3 years of practice, they began to export cut flowers in July 1995. The export in 1995 was 119,400 pieces. Eyeing the developmental potential of the oncidium, Chen bought land and built related facilities in Zutien Township with his savings and began to learn even more about growing oncidium. In the following year, the cultivation of oncidium in Kaohsiung and Pingtung expanded rapidly, and oncidium became the most popular cut flower with great potential.

Realizing the importance of Marketing, Chen formed in 1997 the Ssecond Zutien Ttownship Floral Production and Marketing Group with 76 oncidium growers from 18 townships in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. He borrowed the old fertilizer warehouse of Zutien Farmer’s Aassociation to be used as a marketplace for the group and developed the oncidium export market by means of strategic alliances. Of the total 3.8 million pieces of oncidium exported from Taiwan in that year, 974,450 pieces were from the group. This has built up the reputation of Zutien Oncidium. The output in the following year increased to 1.2 million pieces. The output of oncidium in Kaohsiung and Pingtung reached an economic scale in 1999, and the borrowed market place was divided into 6 parts. In order to enhance the quality of exports, with the guidance from local agricultural authorities, Chen and other members of the group raised funds to built a new marketplace that complied with the export standards and formed the Third Zutien Township Floral Production and Marketing Group.

Chen is a highly decorated military officer who has received countless medals and honors from the air force. He established a process management system for managing the flower production and marketing group with his logistics management experience accumulated when he was in the air force. He was also the general manager of the marketplace, to play the role as a professional manager who promotes the businesses of the group. Everything ran smoothly and the sales grew exponentially. Today, the Third Zutien Township Floral Production and Marketing Group is the biggest oncidium production and marketing group in Pingtung, and Chen was commended as a model farmer in 2002. People call him the leader of leaders.

According to Chen, the climate and geology of central and southern Taiwan are ideal for growing oncidium. The domestic and export sales of the species are just second to the phalaenopsis. The oncidium can be distributed in the form of cut and export flowers. The oncidium has a short history in Taiwan. Its domestic sale started in 1992. Trail export to Japan also started that year. Yet, export sales grew annually, and the total in 2003 was 15 million pieces.

To reduce the export transportation cost and to extend the shelve life of oncidium, Chen cooperated with Dr. Huang Jao-jia of the COA Agricultural Research Institute to develop stay-fresh technology for the oncidium during sea transportation. As a result, the life of oncidium in vase has been extended from 7 days to 12 days. At the same time, the export packing and distribution models have been improved by changing huge package with air transportation to small package with sea transportation in order to save NT$3 per piece from transportation and customs clearance. Moreover, Chen launched cooperation with Dr. Wang Hun-li of the Department of Plant Industry, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, to improve the disease resistance of oncidium with biotechnology in order to reduce the cost for disinfection and to enhance the quality of oncidium.

When Chen chaired the Third Zutien Township Floral Production and Marketing Group, there were many agricultural magazines available at the office for members and visitors to read. Chen also supported the one specialty for one township policy promoted by the government. He has won the champion for float making at the Floral and Fruit Festival organized by the Pingtung County Government.