Food Security Emphasized by President Moon... Rural Development Administration Accelerates Variety Development and Self-Sufficiency Rate Improvement

Royalty Payments Reduced to 10.3 Billion KRW
Domestic Strawberry Supply Rate Rapidly Grows to 95.5%
Challenge of Domestic Wheat Production with 98.8% Import Dependence

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] "Food security can never be emphasized enough." President Moon Jae-in attended the Farmers' Day event on the 11th and repeatedly stressed food security and self-sufficiency rates. The Rural Development Administration (RDA) is a public institution under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, standing at the forefront of these two tasks by accelerating the development and distribution of domestic varieties.

According to the RDA on the 25th, over the past decade (2010?2019), royalty payments for major items (four sectors: vegetables, floriculture, fruit trees, special crops; 12 crops including strawberries, roses, kiwis, mushrooms) have been steadily decreasing. From exceeding 15.3 billion KRW in 2010, it dropped to 12.3 billion KRW in 2015, and sharply declined to 10.3 billion KRW last year. Conversely, the localization rate improved during the same period from 16.2%, to 22.9%, and then to 27.5%.

During the same period, royalties earned through agri-food exports (five crops, 24 varieties including kiwifruit, strawberries, chrysanthemums, roses) approached 2.2 billion KRW. This is due to the development of a total of 643 varieties in four sectors?vegetables, floriculture, fruit trees, and mushrooms?since 2006 to reduce royalty burdens. The seed self-sufficiency rates for staple foods such as rice, barley, potatoes, edible soybeans, and vegetables including chili peppers, napa cabbage, watermelon, cucumber, oriental melon, leaf lettuce, and pumpkin have reached 100%.

Japanese varieties famous for Chucheong, Koshihikari, and Hitomebore are being replaced by high-quality domestic varieties emphasizing taste, such as Samgwang, Alchanmi, Chamdream, Jinsumi, Saeilmi, Golden Queen No.3, and Jinsang.

In the case of the strawberry variety 'Seolhyang,' the most remarkable achievement has been the improvement in distribution rate. In 2005, 80% of the domestic strawberry cultivation area was occupied by Japanese varieties, and the distribution rate of domestic varieties was only 9.2%. However, as the RDA and nationwide rural development institutions launched the Strawberry Research Project Group and began developing and distributing domestic strawberry varieties such as Seolhyang, Maehyang, Goha, Muha, and Gosul, the distribution rate of domestic strawberry varieties soared to 95.5% as of last year.

Going forward, the RDA plans to raise the domestic supply rate of wheat, which currently depends on imports for 98.8% of domestic consumption. Representative varieties include ▲ 'Hwanggeum,' an ultra-strong flour with a protein content of 14%, ▲ 'Ariheuk,' a colored wheat with a dark reddish color rich in health functional components, expected to be a high value-added functional food material, and ▲ 'Opri,' the world's first artificially crossbred wheat variety free of allergenic substances causing wheat-related allergies.

Heo Tae-woong, Administrator of the RDA, explained, "We plan to increase the utilization rate of domestic varieties through the development of demand-customized varieties reflecting market demand," adding, "We will nurture customized new varieties satisfying producers and consumers by establishing a data-based breeding program that reflects production conditions and consumption trends."

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