The Rural Development Administration develops technology to increase efficiency and speed of disease-free grape seedling production.

Utilizing ultra-low temperature cryopreservation technology The Rural Development Administration recently announced that it has developed a technology that utilizes ultra-low temperature cryopreservation technology at minus 196 degrees Celsius to remove viruses and viroids from grapevines, significantly increasing the efficiency and speed of virus-free seedling production compared to existing methods. This is the first such technology developed domestically. Grapes are a crop with many cases of viral infection worldwide, with 102 types of grape viruses reported so far. In South Korea, 14 types of viruses and 4 types of viroids have been confirmed. These pathogens can cause a decrease in grapevine growth and a reduction in sugar content, leading to a decrease in farmers' income. Until now, antiviral agents and long-term heat treatment methods have been used to produce virus-free seedlings, but the production period required at least 10 months or more, there was concern about damage ...