In May of 1963, the JCRR received a copy of a telegram sent by the US Agency for International Development (AID) asking each nation if it had a government bureau which would be willing to engage in vegetable research. The purpose would be to improve the diet of the people of Southeast Asia, increasing the consumption of protein, vitamins and iron by women of child-bearing age and by growing children.
民國五十二年五月，農復會收到美國國際開發總署發給東南亞各國的一封通電，徵詢各國分會是否願意從事蔬菜研究工作，以改進東南亞地區人民的營養，增加對生育期婦女和成長期兒童至為重要的蛋白質、維生素和鐵質。