Int’l orchid fair showcases top bioengineering skills

Media and orchid industry experts from around the world are participating in the 2008 Taiwan International Orchid Show, in southwestern Tainan County, home to butterfly orchids, or phalaenopsis, one of the most popular orchids on the market.

The fifth annual show fair runs until March 17 at the International Flora Exhibition Center, and is expected to draw up 300,000 visitors — including over 2,000 overseas buyers.

“The new species introduced on the market are the results of continuous efforts by local growers,” Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih told The China Post.

“Farmers in every country are usually a (financial) burden on the government, but the local orchid industry is providing new vision for our future younger generations,” he added.

He noted that thanks to growers’ bioengineering skills, orchids now account for over 50 percent of Taiwan’s total flower exports.

In 2007, the country’s export orders secured at the Taiwan International Orchid Show totaled NT$1.5 billion, up from NT$1 billion in 2006, and NT$800 million in 2005.

According to the Taiwan Orchid Plantation, orders received at the exhibition this year could surpass NT$2 billion.

“Taiwan is very good at creating new varieties,” said Peter Faber, export manager at Van der Hoeven Greenhouse Builders Bv., adding that growers must place a further emphasis on mass production in future.

The horticultural firm from the Netherlands is taking part in the exhibition in company with growers from the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

“In the future, we need to keep developing a better variety of orchids through collaboration with technological institutes and universities,” said Richard Yu, business development manager at Formosa Horticulture Group.

“By developing international markets, we will thus succeed in attracting young people to the orchid business,” he added, while emphasizing the government’s key role in arranging innovative development plans for the industry.

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