Gangwon Agricultural Technology Institute holds on-site validation evaluation meeting for hydroponic ginger cultivation

(Pyeongchang=Yonhap News) Reporter Yang Ji-woong = The Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Agricultural Technology Institute held a field evaluation meeting for stable production technology of high-quality seed ginger hydroponic cultivation in Yongpyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang County, on the 18th.

The provincial agricultural technology institute organized the event to verify and compare the productivity of hydroponic cultivation and soil cultivation using its own developed high-quality seed ginger hydroponic cultivation technology in the province's facility farms.

Currently, a significant portion of the ginger distributed domestically is used not only for food and processing but also as seed ginger (seed ginger) for the following year.

However, in major production areas such as Chungnam and Jeonbuk, the quality of seed ginger continues to decline and prices remain unstable due to continuous open-field cultivation, concentrated heavy rains, and soil diseases and pests.

Despite these adverse conditions, the cultivation area and production volume of ginger in the Gangwon region have been steadily increasing.

As of the previous year, the cultivation area was 15 hectares, and the production volume was 102 tons, with the cultivation area increasing by 4 times and the production volume by 131% over 8 years.

In response, the provincial agricultural technology institute has been actively promoting research and development of cultivation technology to ensure stable production and quality maintenance of seed ginger, establishing hydroponic cultivation technology using a rain shelter and plastic box storage technology.

The hydroponic cultivation technology involves planting seed ginger in a box filled with a substrate for 45 days, allowing for faster planting compared to open-field cultivation, and extending the cultivation period until early November, resulting in an 18% increase in yield.

The plastic box storage technology was also found to be effective in maintaining quality over a long period, reducing the rate of change in fresh weight by 36% and the occurrence of rot by 5% compared to conventional bag storage.

Park Young-sik, head of the Horticulture Research Division, said, "We have been working hard to develop hydroponic cultivation and storage technology to ensure stable production and quality of high-quality seed ginger in the Gangwon region" and "We will strive to widely disseminate these technologies to seed ginger-growing farmers in the province."

yangdoo@yna.co.kr