Ershui Mesona Production

The varieties of Mesona are numerous. Most of Mesona planted locally were native varieties growing in the areas close to piedmont. These are suitable for mass planting after many years of domestication. Therefore, the planted varieties in different areas carry the characteristics of accommodating to local environment such as soil, climate, humidity, and other factors. These can be named respectively according to their research and development or marketing units. For example, a vine variety (73-K-4) is planted in Guanxi area using asexual reproduction seedling, but its harvest takes a lot of work. This variety adapts to mild climate in the north better, so if the Mesona of Guanxi is transplanted into a hotter area in the south, the later fertility circumstance will not be good enough, and the leaves will turn brown and fall off. The total production will decline too. Therefore, an up-right variety (83-S-7) is more popular to plant in southern Shuishang Township. The seedlings are transplanted. Since it belongs to natural hybridization, the variation is huge. The production and quality are not stable. Also, its growing period is shorter (about 140 days), so if the picking time is during a rainy season, the harvest and drying process will become very difficult.

The characteristics of Mesona planted varieties in every area in Taiwan are briefly summarized as follows：

Varieties	Pattern	Stem Color	Hair	Leaf Shape	Leaf length (cm)	Leaf width (cm)	Leaf color	Leaf margin	Source
78-S-1	Half up-right	Purple	Long, thin	Long oval	8.0	2.6	Heavy green	Hackly	Shuishang Township
Agriculture #1	Creeping	Light Purple	Short, thin	Oval	5.2	2.7	Heavy green	Light hackly	New breeding
73-K-1	Creeping	Light Purple	Short, thin	Oval	2.5	1.7	Heavy green	Hackly	Guanxi
73-K-2	Creeping	Light Purple	Short, thin	Oval	4.2	2.4	Light green	Hackly	Guanxi
73-K-3	Creeping	Light Purple	Short, thin	Oval	2.8	1.5	Light green	Light hackly	Guanxi
73-K-4	Creeping	Light Purple	Short, thin	Oval	3.5	1.9	Light green	Light hackly	Guanxi
73-K-5	Half up-right	Purple	Short, thin	Oval	3.0	1.9	Heavy green	Light hackly	Guanxi
78-A-1	Half up-right	Purple	Short, thin	Oval	3.9	2.3	Light green	Light hackly	Alishan
83-S-7	Up-right	Light Purple	Long, thick	Long oval	6.0	3.0	Light green	Light hackly	Shuishang Township

By contracted production, the Mesona planting promoted by Ershui Farmers’ Association can be divided into Taisun No. 1, Taisun No. 2, and Taisun No. 3. Since the document literature and webpage data are short of related information, we contacted the public relations department of Taisun Enterprise Co. Ltd., and asked their technical department to provide us related information. We would introduce the role which triggered Ershui new legend in a separated page on our website.

The major planted Mesona varieties and their characteristics are collected in a webpage, Taiwan Organic Information Portal---- Mesona organic farming and management, provided by the Organic Center of National Ilan University subsidized by Agriculture and Food Agency Council of Agriculture at

http://info.organic.org.tw/supergood/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=4-3&PreView=1