After seven years of dedicated breeding, the Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (TTDARES) has successfully developed a new rice variety with popcorn-like aroma, excellent grain quality, and strong resistance to rice blast and lodging. The new variety was unanimously approved for naming as "Taitung 36" by a rice variety naming committee on June 10, 2025.
The committee was chaired by Chih-Wen Wu, the deputy director of the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, included experts from academia, government, and research institutes. The review included field inspections, a presentation of breeding history and variety traits, and evaluations of grain characteristics and taste. The panel praised the variety’s ideal plant type, disease resistance, lodging resistance, stable yield, and good eating quality.
"Taitung 36" originated from a 2018 cross between Taitung 30 and Taitung 35. Selected in the fifth generation, it passed performance, regional, and quality trials. A mid-late maturity variety, it yielded 5,256 kg/ha in the first crop season and 3,686 kg/ha in the second, comparable to Taiken 9. It also shows cold tolerance at the seedling stage, resistance to rice blast and brown planthopper, and high appearance quality with A-B grade eating quality.
With consumer preference shifting toward premium rice, aromatic varieties are gaining popularity. Currently, fragrant rice covers about 11,000 hectares in Taiwan, or 5.5% of total rice area. Given its excellent quality and resilience under changing climate conditions, “Taitung 36” is expected to be well-received by both consumers and contract farming groups, contributing to the competitiveness and sustainability of Taiwan's rice industry.