The rich farmland of Southern New Jersey produces award-winning corn and tomatoes, but an increasing number of the garden state's farmers are trading their tomato patches for Asian staples such as bok choy and mustard greens.

As the country's beleaguered farmers battle for survival, many are realizing that the relatively untapped ethnic market could lead to financial success, according to Tom Orton, a specialist at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

'It's increasingly more difficult to conduct agriculture in the state due to economic conditions and competition,' Orton said. 'We can no longer grow products that can be produced elsewhere, so increasingly, our agriculture producers are turning to specialty crops and new emerging markets.'

A favorite among people from East and Central Asian, Orton said, is the pink 'heritage' tomato, which has higher levels of antioxidants than the deep orange-red tomatoes usually grown in the United States.

'We anticipate, based on marketing studies, that we'll be able to get 100 to 200 percent premium over red supermarket tomatoes, because these pink tomatoes are not widely available,' Orton said.

Rutgers' specialty crop initiative, created three years ago, aims to introduce farmers to new produce and research their marketability.

So far, fruits and vegetables from Eastern and Central Asia have proven popular in the diverse state, where 6 percent of the 8.4 million residents are Asian.

Wickie Hom, a Chinese American who has farmed for 30 years, recently started growing bitter melon and bok choy on his small farm in Englishtown, N.J.

Hom could cash in, if recent immigration rates hold up, according to Bill Sciarappa, agricultural agent for Rutgers' Monmouth County office.

'In the last 10 years, Asians have increased 70 percent in the northeastern states,' he said. 'New Jersey is arguably the highest ethnic diversity of any state and the new wave of Asians from seven countries are leading the way.'

Many Asians are used to higher quality produce than what's available in the United States, where the emphasis is on appearance and the ability to withstand being shipped across the country, Orton said.

'American produce is not great to many immigrants. Many come from areas where produce was grown 15 miles away and picked that morning,' Orton said.

New Jersey's farmers are focusing on the Northeast corridor, from Boston to Washington, D.C., so there's a greater ability to bring fresher produce to markets.

Farmers are selling most of their Asian products to small street markets and specialty stores, but Orton said they should make their way to mainstream supermarket shelves soon.

"We're going to see more these landing in standard supermarkets in the near future," he said. "We know, based on marketing studies we've done, that people want options, more diversity. This is a great opportunity and we want to take advantage of it."