In those early days, Taiwanese farmers were unable to afford better seeds, the quality of crops was hit-and-miss, and harvests were often affected by natural disasters. When Chen was a child, he often watched his parents stare at the fields sighing with exasperation, and he resolved to better the lives of farmers through crop breeding.
早期的台灣農民，無法負擔較好種子的價錢，農作品質不穩定，又常因天災影響採收，陳文郁小時候目睹父母對著農田嘆息的無奈，便立志要以「育種」來改善農民生活。