South Korea, Haenam sweet potatoes to be cultivated as a regional specialized cluster

(Haenam = Yonhap News) Reporter Jo Geun-young = Jeollanam-do Haenam Sweet Potatoes will be nurtured as a regional-specialized cluster linked with front and rear industries. Haenam-gun announced on the 4th that it would create a regional specialized industrial cluster in which primary, secondary, and tertiary industries such as sweet potato production, manufacturing and processing, and experience and tourism are convergence after being selected for a contest to create a rural convergence industrial district organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This project will invest 3 billion won by 2024 to support the establishment of low-temperature storage and processing facilities for sweet potatoes, joint brand development, product marketing, and development of experience/tourism programs. Haenam is the largest sweet potato main production complex producing 34,000 tons of sweet potatoes per year on 600 farms and 1,964ha cultivation area, accounting for 56% of the cultivated area in Jeollanam-do. The sales of manufacturing and processing companies that produce dried sweet potato and sweet potato bread are also growing steadily, reaching 15.5 billion won annually. Haenam sweet potato, grown in the loess soil containing a large amount of germanium, in the wind, has a high sugar content, contains a lot of dietary fiber and minerals, and is registered as Geographically Indicated Agricultural Product No.