Moth orchids destined for global Internet sales

Texas

The next time you watch a celebrity interview on television, a potted moth orchid will likely be somewhere in the setting. The plants have become so popular that growers in Taiwan, the world's largest producer, are teaming up with a scientist in South Texas to market the plants to wholesalers via the Internet.

Dr. Yin-Tung Wang, a horticulturist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, is working on the project with several entities in Taiwan. These include the Republic of China, colleagues at two Taiwanese universities, several orchid growers and an information management company.

By setting up Web cams in Taiwan's orchid greenhouses, authorized wholesalers anywhere will be able to shop and buy online. In addition, Wang and other scientists will be able to log on to detect and resolve horticultural problems without leaving their offices.

"To my knowledge, this type of e-commerce project has not been done before," said Wang, a native of Taiwan and a renowned expert in the production of moth orchids. The orchids are also known by their scientific name of Phalaenopsis.

While details are still being worked out, Wang expects the project to cost $1.8 million, most of which will be funded by participating orchid growers. A smaller contribution will come from the Republic of China.

"Taiwan's equivalent of our USDA," he said, "has identified four high-value, flagship agricultural products that they want to support and promote on the global market. These include mangos, woolen tea, farm-raised tilapia fish and Phalaenopsis."

Of the 60 known species of Phalaenopsis, only two are native to Taiwan. Yet with its ideal tropical climate and several generations of moth-orchid breeders and growers, Taiwan leads the world in breeding and producing the delicate-looking but sturdy plants.

Last year Taiwan produced 42 million potted moth orchids, most of which were exported to Japan, the United States, South Korea, mainland China and Europe. By comparison, the United States production of all orchids, not just Phalaenopsis, totaled less than 16 million.

"Moth orchids are a priority in Taiwan, so we are confident funding for this project will come through," Wang said. "The government of Taiwan, known as the Republic of China, wants the moth orchid to be closely aligned with the image of Taiwan, so that it becomes a symbol of Taiwan."

To gain the confidence of wholesale buyers in this new method of buying, Wang and his colleagues have suggested developing criteria for uniform and standardized plants. These criteria involve improving and stabilizing their greenhouse growing environments so plants will grow at a predictable rate, he said.

"My contribution here will be to improve the growth of the plants, while Dr. Chiachung Chen and other faculty members at the National Chung-Hsung University will do their part to control the environment of the greenhouses. Dr. Phoebe Hao at Mingdao University will lend her expertise in business management and help develop the e-commerce infrastructure. And a private information management company will also be involved," he said.

Participating orchid growers would pool their resources and inventory into one domain so buyers could make their purchases without having to travel.

Wang said his research on the project will be shared with orchid growers everywhere, including two in South Texas. River Valley Orchids in Harlingen and Butterfly Orchids in Arroyo City together produce about 150,000 potted moth orchids annually. Other moth orchid growers in the United States are in San Antonio, Houston, California, Florida and Hawaii.

While the wholesale value of all other potted plants produced in the United States declined last year, potted orchids enjoyed a 9 percent increase, reaching $121 million, Wang said.

"The Phalaenopsis is a very strong product worldwide and deserves the research and investment dollars needed to keep it competitive and viable in the marketplace," he said.

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INTERNET MARKETING--Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher Dr. Yin-Tung Wang is working with colleagues in Taiwan to market moth orchids to wholesalers via the Internet. (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station photo by Rod Santa Ana III)

Date: 9/28/04

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