Jeju-grown Red Kiwi 'Hongyang' First Harvest Nationwide

Farm Gate Price 4,500 Won per Kg ... Nationwide Hanaro Mart Shipments Starting from the 8th

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] The early-maturing Red Kiwi ‘Hongyang’ grown in Jeju was harvested for the first time nationwide this year.

According to the Jeju Agricultural Technology Center (Director Shin Yang-su) on the 7th, the early-maturing kiwi, first harvested this year from a pilot farm located in Wolpyeong-dong, Jeju City, between the 5th and 6th, advanced the usual shipping period, which normally starts in October, by about 20 days.

To achieve this, the Agricultural Technology Center installed low-cost side insulation facilities (side curtains) at three early cultivation pilot sites with a budget of 40 million KRW.

For the pilot farms, the budding period was in early February, and the flowering period was in late February, about 10 days earlier than conventional farms.

In particular, conventional cultivation had an uneven temperature causing a long flowering period, but the pilot farms experienced less temperature variation, resulting in flowers blooming simultaneously.

Additionally, through the low-cost side insulation facilities, fuel costs were reduced by 30%, from 5 million KRW in conventional farms to 3.5 million KRW.

The farm gate price was 4,500 KRW per kg, similar to last year. The harvested kiwis will be processed through sorting at Hallagold Agricultural Cooperative Corporation (CEO Ko Bong-ju) starting from the 8th, packaged in transparent 500g containers (5-6 fruits) in two packs bundled as one set (0.8kg), and shipped to Hanaro Mart stores nationwide.

The production volume is expected to be around 10 tons, similar to last year, with a sugar content of approximately 17 Brix.

Yang Chang-hee, head of the Technology Extension Team at Jeju Agricultural Technology Center, said, “We will work to extend the distribution period by establishing a year-round kiwi production system and stabilize prices to increase farm income. We will also expand the pilot project so that kiwi can establish itself as Jeju’s second major income crop.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.