The 17th awards ceremony for the 10 outstanding young men was held Sept. 29 under the sponsorship of the Republic of China Jaycees. A total of 165 youths have so far been honored for their contribution to society in the past few years.

Among those chosen this year, Yang Chao-sheng, 24, is the youngest, and the only one from the agricultural sector. Born in Fengyuan (meaning rich land in Chinese) near Taichung in Central Taiwan, Chen grew up in the alluvial plain of the Tachia river, which is rich in natural resources and mild in climate. It has been ranked with the adjacent Changhua and Nantou counties as a leading grape producing area in Taiwan.

Though he majored in engineering at the Kwang Hwa Institute of Technology at Taichung, Yang won his prize for his successful experiments in the three-harvest-a-year and quick harvest techniques. Wearing a checkered shirt and blue jeans, Yang said in an embarrassed voice: "Really, it's nothing. Just some layering and pruning techniques." The importance of Yang's achievement cannot be doubted, however, despite his disclaimers. With the propagation of these two techniques, vine farmers' incomes have been increased considerably, and in the foreseeable future, grapes and their products will earn large sums of foreign exchange for the Republic of China.

After several generations planting tobacco, Yang's family decided in 1966 to switch to cultivating Chufeng grapes so as to earn bigger profits. Yang remembers that from the age of 11, the sight of the vines passing through the stages of budding, shooting, blossoming and bearing fruit always filled him with pleasure. By volunteering to help his father in taking care of the vineyard, he was able to gain considerable knowledge in the cultivation of grapes. In this initial stage, however, the Yangs' inexperience made it impossible to improve management or the quality of the fruit.

In 1960, as a junior high school student, Yang noticed that new buds had sprung up from recently pruned branches at the family farm. By chance, the Taiwan Fertilizer Co. and the Department of Horticulture at the National Taiwan University cooperated to conduct fertilizer experiments at the Yangs' vineyard the following year, bringing Yang Chao-sheng into contact with Prof. Kang Yao-teh, chairman of the NTU horticulture department. The professor helped Yang to overcome many problems in his experiments, and after repeated efforts and tests, he eventually achieved the elusive extra harvest of grapes in September of that year.

Yang was not content with his achievements, however, and proceeded to conduct experiments into the possibility of a third harvest. When he finally achieved this goal in 1976, grapes were available on the three biggest festivals in Taiwan, the Lunar New Year in January- February, the Dragon Boat Festival in May-June, and the Mid-autumn Festival in August-September. Moreover, through proper control allowed by the three-times a year harvest, Yang was able to improve quality to an even higher level.

The quick-harvest technique evolved by Yang allows the harvesting of grapes in the same year as they are planted, instead of taking two years as before. Since grapes are a fruit of the temperate zone, the high temperatures and heavy rainfall in Taiwan are not ideal for their cultivation. Yang, however, has been able to turn these unfavorable conditions to favorable ones and to help expand the grape plantation area islandwide from 300 hectares to 4,000 hectares, and to double the productivity per hectare.

Yang is particularly grateful for the instruction of Prof. Kang, the encouragement and assistance of his parents, and the kindness of his sponsors and the judges in awarding him with this highest honor. He is now dedicating himself to research into the prevention of vine diseases and the development of foreign markets, so as to make an even larger contribution to viticulture in the Republic of China.

[Picture Caption]

1. Luxuriant grape plantations are a feature of the Fengyuan area. 2. Yan Chao-sheng's grandmother trims harvested grapes in her spare time. 3. Yang pruning the trees in the vineyard.

Luxuriant grape plantations are a feature of the Fengyuan area.

Yan Chao-sheng's grandmother trims harvested grapes in her spare time.

Yang pruning the trees in the vineyard.