'Pohang Summer Radish' Contract Farming 700t Exported This Year... Expanded to 1000t Next Year

Mayor Lee Gang-deok of Pohang City helping with farm work at a radish-producing farm in Doguri, Donghae-myeon, Nam-gu on the 2nd.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] The 'Pohang Summer Radish,' the only radish in the country spotlighted for export, is reaching the tables of people worldwide, including the largest export market in the Americas, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.

On the 2nd, Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang visited radish farms in Doguri, Donghae-myeon, Nam-gu, busy with the full-scale shipment of summer radishes, helping with the work and spending time communicating with local farmers. The visit included Kim Cheol-su, Chairman of the Economic and Industrial Committee of the Pohang City Council, and Kim Yu-tae, CEO of Gyeongbuk Tongsang Co., Ltd.

The 'Pohang Summer Radish' heading for export this time is grown as a follow-up crop to spinach in the spinach facility cultivation complexes in Cheongnim-dong and Donghae-myeon areas, greatly contributing to preventing continuous cropping damage and increasing farmers' income during the summer off-season.

In particular, although an ambitious export target of 400 tons was set last year, only 200 tons, half of the original export goal, was achieved due to issues such as irrigation control, variety selection, and sorting.

However, this year, through variety replacement and technical guidance, the contract cultivation volume of 700 tons is being promoted for export not only to the United States and Canada but also to Southeast Asian regions such as Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, with the first batch of 63 tons scheduled for export on the 6th. Pohang City explained that from next year, exports of more than 1,000 tons annually will be possible.

Mayor Lee said, "We are focusing administrative power to expand exports of fresh agricultural products, which can be called the flower of agricultural exports," and promised, "Since summer radishes have high competitiveness, we will concentrate our capabilities to significantly expand exports and further develop them into a nationally designated export specialized complex."

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