South Korea: Strawberry pilot project kills two birds with one stone, diversification and stable production

(Korea Agricultural News = Reporter Kim Eun-jin) On the 20th, the Rural Development Administration (Director Cho Jae-ho) held a 'Strawberry Domestic Breed and Cutting Nursery Pilot Project Field Evaluation Meeting' at the Nonsan City Agricultural Technology Center in South Chungcheong Province and announced the results of disseminating strawberry varieties and cutting (cutting) seedling technology. shared. Korea's strawberry cultivation area has been decreasing since 2010 due to labor shortage and aging, and remained at 5,745 ha as of 2022, a 4.6% decrease from the average year. In addition, due to abnormal weather, production amounted to only 151,000 tons on average, about 20.6% less than the average year. In the field, they are demanding the distribution of various varieties, saying that there is a limit to market expansion with the single variety ‘Seolhyang’, which has a high market share. Accordingly, the Rural Development Administration carried out the ‘Strawberry Variety ...