Taiwan Today

In the late 15th Century, after his first sighting of the beautiful State of Maine-sized Caribbean island of Hispaniola, shared today by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, Columbus reported to Spain that he had discovered a land that was "the fairest under the sun." And still today, travelers marvel at its fertile valleys and plateaus, mild climate and gentle winds, and invitingly lovely beaches.

Betty Wang, FCR's managing editor, reports here on ROC technical cooperation efforts in that enticing land, following a recent tour of Dominican Republic agricultural facilities.

Just twenty-five years ago, a team of five Chinese agricultural specialists, led by Wang Chi-chu, landed at Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. His was the first Republic of China technical cooperation mission in all Latin America. Its specific purpose was to assist Dominican Republic technicians and farmers in their efforts to increase rice production and improve the crop's quality.

The first Sino-Dominican technical cooperation agreement, signed in November 1963, reflected the efforts of Dr. Chao Lien-fan, dean of the Department of Agriculture of National Taiwan University, then an advisor on rice to the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Agriculture. In April that year, then Minister of Agriculture Antonio Guzmán (later president of the Republic) had urged Chao to consider such formal cooperation between the two countries.

The ROC mission's headquarters, from the beginning, were set up at Bonao, 80 miles northwest of Santo Domingo. With an initial ROC fund of US$60,000 and six local technicians, the mission launched its first effort on a 47-hectare site at the Juma Rice Experimental Station, where it concentrated on research into rice variety selections and improvements (crossbreeding), their popularization, and achieving overall increases in rice production.

In 1965, two years earlier than the first successful rice-variety achievements at Juma, the International Rice Research Institute had successfully crossed the ROC variety Ti Chiao Wu Chien and Indonesia's Peta to produce the famous, "miracle" IR8, subsequently so successfully popularized in East Asia: As a result of its impact, the region's rice productivity increased sharply, and the area's chronic staple food shortage was overcome.

But IR8 is not suited to Latin American tastes. In general, Latin Americans prefer a long-grained, transparent rice which can also be grown in any season.

The ROC mission members experimented continuously, crossbreeding hundreds of varieties to attain a superior rice suited to Latin American tastes. And by mid-1967, two superior paddy rice varieties—Tono Brea 439 and PH4-11 were formally "born."

Their arrival was big news in the Dominican Republic, and the Juma Rice Experimental Station began attracting a steady stream of local farmers, agricultural school students, and other interested persons throughout the country and from foreign lands.

In 1967, as the cooperation agreement was renewed, then President Joaquin Balaguer declared: "I believe that my country will someday become a center of agricultural technology for Latin America and the Caribbean region."

To popularize the superior new long-grain paddy rice varieties, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic asked the ROC mission to institute seminars on rice cultivation in cooperation with the country's Agricultural Bank, the Dominican Agrarian Institute, the Institute for Cooperative Development and Credit, and several international assistance organizations.

At the end of 1967, as the ROC mission was entering its fifth year in the Dominican Republic, Hsieh Ying-to took over the team's leadership from Chao Lien-fan; he has remained in the post ever since.

In Hsieh's almost 20-year residence in the Dominican Republic, that country has recorded sixteen ministers of agriculture, and he has been on friendly terms with all of them. "There was just one minister I was not able to see for his first four months in office. But we later become very good friends, " noted Hsieh. He went on to recall the earliest days of his assignment:

"Before I came to the Dominican Republic, Dr. Chao Lien-fan told me that to really take root, the ROC mission would have to put major emphasis on research, not just operate demonstration farms. People with technical specialties in rice were required, and that has been our prior consideration in recruiting staff. Through cooperative research directly with Dominican technicians, we are not only able to transfer technology, but to build excellent personal relations.

"First, we erected a small office-workshop at the site of today's Juma Rice Experimental Station. Then we struggled there both in the labs and the rice fields ... .I well remember the scorching sun. Gradually, with the receipts from sales of the rice seed produced at Juma, we were able to pay for additional lab equipment, office-workshop facilities, and storehouses.

"We now produce 1,800 tons of rice seed annually which is usually sold to the Rice Department and directly to farmers and private seed companies.

"Today," he added, "the station is well-equipped with facilities and both hardware and software. Its four laboratories specialize in rice quality analysis, soils and fertilizers, disease prevention, and irrigation research."

"Of the 47 hectares of land belonging to the Juma Rice Experimental Station, 14 are reserved for the research and experimentation section and 30 for seed production; the remaining 3 hectares are for roads and irrigation facilities," put in Vinicio Castillo, who has been director of the Juma station for sixteen years. He recently visited with ROC agricultural experts in Taipei (in June 1985).

"Since the successful crossbreeding with the ROC mission here of Juma 57 and Juma 58 in the early 1970s, both per unit area yields and total national rice production have increased remarkably. Now, most of our farmers grow these two varieties," Castillo said.

In the early 1970s, Juma 57 and Juma 58 were also grown on an experimental basis in other Latin American countries, among them Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. In Peru, per hectare yields reached 9.8 tons.

Castillo discussed the differences in rice cultivation in the Dominican Republic itself: "The 90,000 hectares of land under rice in our country are in three major regions. The first, located near this experimental station, is our most important rice production center. The second, located in the northwestern part of our country, is affected both by inadequate rainfall and the presence of a 22,000-hectare saltlake. The third, in the southwest and east, especially around San Juan, although lacking in rainfall, relies on very fertile soil for rather good harvests.

"In the past," he continued, "because we didn't have enough farm machinery, we had great difficulties with soil preparation. We arranged loans from the ROC government to purchase the necessary machines and, in 1984, we ob­tained 650 power tillers, mainly for small farmers." Another 790 were due to arrive by early 1986.

A lesser share of the costs of buildings, purchases, and maintenance at the experimental station is now provided by rice seed sales, according to Castillo. "One thing I should mention is that due to the Dominican Republic's improved financial conditions and this station's achievements—obvious to all—the Dominican government is increasingly allocating funds for our laboratories. It is also now providing eight working vehicles for mission members," added Hsieh. Additionally, the Dominican government picks up the tab for ROC mission members' local operational trips and for round-trip tickets back to Taiwan.

"The more support the Dominican government provides, the greater the pressure we feel," Hsieh volunteered. "We have to continually equal our effective past performances in research. And not only that, added pressures issue from the sharply rising quality of local agricultural technicians.

"As I noted earlier, when I first came here, the Dominican government sent six technicians to work with us. At the time, we had much to teach them. However, they learned diligently, and a few years later, they were quite different. Many of our counterparts now possess Ph.D. or Master's degrees. If we didn't improve our own capabilities and knowledge constantly, we would have nothing to show them, and our mission here would become meaningless."

During our visit in the country, we had an opportunity to call on Minister of Agriculture Carlos Federico Cruz D. at the Ministry in Santo Domingo.

And it was on our way to his office that we took our first drive around downtown Santo Domingo. A city with a long history of devastating Caribbean hurricanes, pirate attacks, foreign occupations, and destructive civil wars, Santo Domingo today reigns with great beauty and dignity over blue seas and fertile farms. It is the hub not only of the nation's history, but of its financial and business activities.

"Whenever the Ministry organizes a ceremony to celebrate an agricultural success," Minister Cruz greeted us, "the first group of guests we think of inviting is the ROC agricultural technical mission. Their almost two decades here have resulted in the Dominican Republic becoming one of the highest rice consumption countries in Latin America (the average annual per person rice intake is 126 pounds) because their efforts have helped make our country self-sufficient in rice."

"Eighteen years ago," Cruz added, "most of our agricultural technical know-how came from the Free University of Santo Domingo. Today, another two universities have also joined in. Their experimental farms and labs also cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture. "

An hour before our meeting with Minister Cruz, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Leovigildo Bello briefed us on recent Dominican rice crops: "In 1981, we recorded yields of 232,000 tons. Then in 1982, with the help of improved techniques introduced by the ROC specialists, production jumped to 327,000 tons. That year, instead of being dependent on imports, we were able to export rice."

But 1985 was not so bountiful a rice-year for the Dominican Republic. "Due to drought, 18,000 hectares, approximately 20 percent of the total land area under rice cultivation, failed to produce," Bello explained, "and we had to import 64,000 tons to meet requirements for early 1986. I believe 1986 will be better though—that rain will be abundant and we will have a good harvest."

In the recent history of the country's agricultural modernization, the 1972 Dominican land reform has also had major impact. "The major focus of the land reform was the rice crop. After re­ allocating land to the small farmers, our government has enjoyed farmer support for national agricultural policies," Bello said.

The Dominicans are working hard to build a future economy spotlighting light industry, mining, and tourism. At present, the country's major exports are agricultural—sugar, coffee, tobacco, cocoa, tomatos, and bananas and other fruits-and agriculture is expected to remain an economic mainstay.

The Dominican Republic, indeed, has become an attractive country for foreign investment, much of it in the burgeoning agriculture and foodstuffs sectors.

Over the past two decades, numerous Dominican farmers have built very close ties with the ROC mission. Among them is Manuel Burgos, who has been actively cooperating with the Chinese technicians for almost 20 years. With his father and his brother, the family altogether farms 80 hectares. Besides growing rice, they raise 220 head of cattle and devote 5 hectares to growing the big cooking bananas.

Whenever a new rice variety is developed at the Juma station, Burgos is eager to try it on his own land. "My rice fields are also demonstration farms for the Chinese specialists," he laughed. "I like being a farmer and am really only interested in growing rice. For all this, I have 24 regular workers. But during the busiest season, I have to hire another 50 local people as helping hands."

The hospitable Burgos advised us: "If you could stay on for another two or three days, I would invite you to my house again for a much bigger dinner—roasting a whole calf." ROC team chief Hsieh has attended two such feasts.

Most of the ROC mission members live near the Juma Rice Experimental Station in Bonao, one of the smallest urban centers in the Dominican Republic. Between Santo Domingo and Santiago, and with a population of no more than 30,000, Bonao was found, in the early 1970s, to be centered in an area rich in nickel, gold, silver, and bauxite.

The mineral discoveries made it a boom area overnight.

Lee Ming-nan, the team member responsible for water and soil conservation projects, has been active here for a little more than ten years. Water and soil conservation is an item of technical cooperation that is accorded equal importance with rice by the Dominican government.

A bamboo plot of 1.5 hectares at Hatillo, not far from the Juma Rice Experimental Station, provides part of the bamboo seedlings for active soil conservation projects along the banks of several of the country's major rivers.

In 1984, along with Reynaldo Gomez, a section chief of the Water Conservancy Bureau, Lee completed plans for a successful project to plant bamboo along 1.5 miles of riverbanks. In 1985, another 5 miles were covered. "The Bureau now plans to plant bamboo along the banks of the Yaque del Norte, our country's longest river, for a total of 180 miles (from Santiago to Monte Cristi)," Lee said.

Currently, there are 12 bamboo plots in the Dominican Republic, cultivating five species. "When they were first brought to this country in 1977, each species was represented by only five seedlings. Now their posterity are almost everywhere. Effectiveness of the bamboo project can also be seen along the banks of the Yuna, near Hatillo Reservoir, the country's most important river," he said.

Like other countries hosting ROC technical cooperation missions, the Dominican Republic has also welcomed the transfer of freshwater fish-farming technology as part of the overall operation. At the Central Region Fish-Breeding Station in Santiago, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Agriculture and Center for Animal Research and Development (CIMPA), the ROC mission, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) cooperate in research into the cultivation of carp.

Along with Wei lung-hui and three Dominican technicians, Chang Ming-hui (also responsible for freshwater shrimp propagation at Nigua, 30 miles from Santo Domingo) has successfully propagated 800,000 carp fry at the center. "This is a well-equipped research center. And not long ago, when we succeeded in the propagation of 'bigheaded' carp, it was a major news item for local TV stations and newspapers," Chang said.

Wei Jung-hui, right after the successful propagation of 'bigheaded' carp, moved on to Azua, 120 miles west of Santo Domingo, to begin a research project on German carp. Be and two Dominican assistants at the 25-hectare propagation center there have now bred more than one million fry.

Yien En-sheng, recruited when he was studying toward his Ph.D. degree in the United States, has been doing research into irrigation and water and soil conservancy. With assistant Petronila Esther Quezeda, Yien has completed a set of experiments with' red beans and cassava.

In 1980, which President Guzman designated the "Year of Agriculture" as the country focused on revitalizing its agricultural sector, emphasis was laid on irrigation-as of benefit to both small and large-scale farmers. Funds for rural irrigation facilities came mainly from the Inter-American Development Bank. And such Dominican agencies as the Agricultural Bank, the Institute for Cooperative Development and Credit, and the Office of Community Develop­ment were expanded to provide more direct financing for small farmers.

"We have also seen introducing and popularizing small farm machinery toward a goal of farm mechanization, and the foundation has been laid well," said Lee Hsin-fu, who has been in the Dominican Republic for four years now. Research funds in this area also come from the international Food and Agriculture Organization and AID.

Hung Wen-li, who has been in the country for 17 years, pointed out, "In the Dominican Republic, we have more plant diseases than insect pests. But sometimes it· is not really necessary to apply farm chemicals: If the seedlings themselves have been well protected, diseases will not readily occur." His effort is ecology-minded.

Mission Chief Hsieh's spacious yard at Juma is planted with many now-tall fruit trees brought back from long-past trips to Taiwan. No doubt, the ROC technical cooperation mission has taken root equally in the lovely Dominican Republic—a country styled for tourists, "The Land Columbus Loved Best."