National flower saved by Taiwan

PANAMA. Panama’s endangered Espiritu Santo or dove orchid has been rescued from the brink of extinction by experts from the Taiwan Technical Mission to Panama.

Seedlings of the orchid, which is regarded as Panama's national flower, were presented to Panamanian Agriculture and Husbandry Development Minister Victor Perez by Republic of China (Taiwan) Ambassador to Panama Y.S. Ko.

One of the mission's experts, Huang Chia-hsiang, said they adopted biotechnologies in cultivating the Espiritu Santo seedlings in greenhouses and are now able to produce 3,000 plants annually. Many seedlings will be planted in Panama's national parks and school campuses. In all, botanists have identified 12 varieties of the flower.

The Espiritu Santo project was part of a program launched in 2006 to help Panama cultivate orchids.

Aside from helping revive the endangered orchid species, the Taiwanese experts also selected butterfly orchids (phalaenopsis) that are suitable for growing in Panama and helped farmers engage in commercial production.

Perez said that as a veteran operator in the agriculture and husbandry industry, he has been deeply impressed by the contributions Taiwan's mission has made to improving the livelihood of Panama's farmers, especially low-income farmers.

After the seedling presentation ceremony in Capira, Ko and Perez jointly cut the ribbon to open a fruit packing factory and flower showroom, which were built with financial support from Taiwan's International Cooperation and Development Fund.