從「自由世界」到「熱帶亞洲」：臺灣農業研究與綠色革命之擴張

From the“Free World”to“Tropical Asia”: Agricultural Research in Taiwan and the Expansion of the Green Revolution

本文以1950到70年代農復會與國際組織的互動，討論臺灣農業研究如何進入美國在亞洲推廣改良種子的「綠色革命」。於1950與60年代，農復會在宣傳育種與栽培技術的同時，也強調土地改革的成效，為臺灣的自耕農塑造出勤奮、組織化、使用新科技的形象，並將農業研究呈現為維繫「自由世界」繁榮穩定的基石。然而，當農復會於1970年代欲藉在臺成立的亞洲蔬菜中心擴大參與國際農業研究網絡時，卻面臨了退出聯合國的外交危機。為了維持本身國際地位，該中心減少了對臺灣自身發展經驗的強調，轉為凸顯臺灣之地理環境作為熱帶亞洲育種研究的適宜性。透過此歷程，本文顯示農業研究在冷戰技術交流中的角色，並以此點出了解戰後臺灣發展的國際面向。

This article explores how agricultural research in Taiwan participated in the“Green Revolution,”the American strategy to promote improved seeds in Asia, through the interaction between the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR), aid agencies, and philanthropic foundations from the 1950s to 70s. While advertising its achievements in breeding and cropping techniques, the JCRR in the 1950s and 60s emphasized the importance of land reform and heralded the image of diligent, organized, and technology-savvy landowning farmers as the foundation of prosperity and stability of“free world.”However, as the JCRR sought to expand its role in the network of international agricultural research in the 1970s by establishing the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), it faced the crisis of Taiwan’s expulsion from the United Nations. To secure its international status, the center put less emphasis on Taiwan’s development experiences, instead stressing the suitability of Taiwan’s geographical environment for conducting breeding research in tropical Asia. Through this history, the article reveals the role agricultural research played in Taiwan’s engagement with Cold War technology exchange, and points out the international aspects of Taiwan’s postwar agricultural development.