The Rural Development Administration distributes guidelines for paprika cultivation in the summer.

(Jeonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jin-bang = The Rural Development Administration announced on the 24th that it will disseminate cultivation guidelines that compile technology for producing high-quality paprika during the summer heat.

Paprika is mainly cultivated in highland areas during the summer, but production decreases during the high temperatures from August to October.

The guidelines include optimal sowing times and techniques for root cooling, nutrient solution concentration, irrigation amounts based on sunlight exposure, and carbon dioxide supply technology, researched by the Rural Development Administration from 2021 to 2024.

Research results show that paprika can increase production if sown in June using perlite medium, and if the appropriate cultivation temperature is maintained through fog spraying and heat pump cooling.

In particular, installing cold water pipes for root cooling can increase the yield of top-grade quality paprika by 16.1%.

Additionally, setting up the nutrient solution to be automatically supplied according to the accumulated solar radiation for each growth stage is beneficial for growth and results in firm fruits.

The guidelines can be viewed on the National Agricultural Science Library website of the Rural Development Administration (lib.rda.go.kr).

Ok Hyeon-chung, head of the Vegetable Basics Division at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, said, "We expect the guidelines to enhance the practicality of summer paprika cultivation techniques in the field and contribute to improving productivity for southern farmers during the high-temperature period."