Do you like grapes? Most people will say yes. Whether in grape-growing or grape-importing countries, grapes are very popular, and so are raisins and wine.
Costa Rica lies in tropical Central America and did not formerly produce grapes. The grapes to be found on sale here were all imported and naturally rather expensive, so only people with medium to high incomes could afford to buy them regularly. Most people would only buy them at holidays such as Christmas or the New Year.
As temperate plants, grape vines need periods of dormancy during their growth, and the stimulation of low temperatures. In Costa Rica's natural environment they cannot flower or set fruit normally. But with advances in horticultural techniques in recent years, it has been discovered that plants' natural need for rest periods can be overcome artificially, using methods which induce the same reactions as low temperatures. Such methods have been shown to be suitable for use in commercial grape production. Taiwan has valuable experience in this area: starting from scratch we went from very low quality to top-grade large-scale production, and from one harvest per year to all-year-round supply. This shows convincingly that with the right techniques, grapes can be grown in tropical regions such as Costa Rica.
Costa Rica's own traditional tropical crops such as coffee, cocoa beans and bananas do not yield high value per unit area, and their prices are extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in international markets. For the national economy to rely on these traditional crops is risky, so how to develop new high-value crops to replace the traditional ones has become a question of great interest to the Costa Rican authorities.
The ROC Agricultural Technology Mission to the Republic of Costa Rica believed that the central area of the country offered excellent conditions for growing grapes, and that it would be a very worthwhile project to introduce viticultural experience and techniques from Taiwan.
In 1985, the mission began collaborating with the University of Costa Rica's experimental station to perform various surveys and cultivation management experiments on more than 80 existing varieties of grape vines. Observation and gradual selection over four or five years of cultivation showed that a variety named Ruby Seedless performed best: not only is it high-yielding and consistent, with a thin skin, firm flesh and an excellent flavor, it is also easy to grow and manage and is highly resistant to disease. Most notably, it produces extremely large bunches of seedless fruit weighing up to three kilograms, which is a match for any of the imported grape varieties. These large bunches mean that Ruby Seedless produces an average crop per vine of more than 40kg, giving a yield per harvest of over 30 tonnes per hectare. With two crops a year, this adds up to almost double the yield of Kyoho grapes in Taiwan. This aroused a great deal of interest in Costa Rica, and was very encouraging for the ROC Agricultural Technical Mission too. The mission carefully drew up a plan, and an agreement was signed with the Costa Rican agriculture ministry to promote the variety. The demonstration growing area was enlarged, cultivation information compiled, and viticulture courses designed.
To help farmers in the region where the variety was to be promoted to understand the cultivation of Ruby Seedless, two hands-on demonstration seminars were arranged, one in November 1991 and one in April 1993, and harvest-time tasting sessions were held at which the invited guests rated the grapes very highly.
Following the hard work of Agricultural Technical Mission leader Chen Kuan-jou to organize and expedite the project, and the unstinting efforts of the many other workers involved, the splendid-looking and delicious-tasting Ruby Seedless grapes are about to reach the market. This successful transfer of farming techniques has strengthened the ties between the ROC and Costa Rica, and in the near future all our Costa Rican friends should be able to eat these cheap but delicious "Taiwan grapes." Furthermore, if the grapes are successfully exported, they should give a boost to Costa Rica's economic growth, and "Taiwan grapes" will become a "purple-robed ambassador" for the 21st century.