Organized in 1971 by a Memorandum of Understanding among the governments of the Republic of China, the United States of America, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) formally commenced operation in 1973. During the past 20 years, AVRDC's research has been dedicated to the collection and improvement of plant germplasm and the breeding of improved varieties of tomato, pepper, eggplant, onion, soybean, mungbean, shallot, garlic, Chinese and common cabbage, and sweet potato. It has greatly increased agricultural profits in Taiwan.