Wando-gun Promotes Increased Farm Income Through High-Quality Horticultural Crop Production

Published 06 Sep.2021 10:45(KST)

Cultivation of Regional Specialty Crops and Tropical Fruit Trees such as Yuja, Biwa, and Grape

Wando Yuja ⓒ Asia Economy

[Wando＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do is fostering regionally specialized crops to produce high-quality horticultural products that consumers can trust and to increase farmers' income.

According to the county on the 6th, as a top priority for stable production of horticultural crops due to climate warming and promotion of Wando Natural Agriculture, they are focusing on systematically cultivating specialized items such as yuzu, loquat, grapes, and citrus by establishing production, processing, and distribution infrastructure.

The cultivation area of yuzu in Wando-gun is 197 hectares, with about 2,800 tons harvested last year.

Yuzu contains three times more vitamin C than lemons, making it excellent for preventing colds. Especially, Wando yuzu grows in Wando’s pristine natural environment, exposed to sea breeze, resulting in thick peel and excellent aroma.

Recently, as the efficacy of yuzu has become globally recognized, export volume is increasing and export countries are diversifying to Southeast Asia, the United States, and others.

They are operating a complex experience center linked to the 6th industrialization project and are striving to develop new processed products and find new sales channels.

Loquat is harvested from late April in greenhouse facilities until early July in open fields, and to increase farmers' income, processed foods such as loquat wine, concentrated juice, loquat leaf tea, and vinegar are being promoted and sold.

Loquat wine won the grand prize in the fruit wine category at the ‘2021 Namdo Traditional Liquor Competition.’ Using a unique manufacturing method by the Wando Loquat Agricultural Cooperative, loquat juice is fermented and matured by adding yeast, resulting in a transparent golden color, subtle aroma, rich umami flavor, and clean aftertaste.

Grapes produced in the Gunoe-myeon area are cultivated along the coast and called ‘Haebyeon Grapes’ (Beach Grapes). Compared to regular grapes, their berries are firmer and have higher sugar content.

The county analyzed the effects of sea breeze, warm climate, and abundant sunlight?natural blessings?on agriculture and livestock through a research project titled ‘Verification of Agricultural Utilization Value of Sea Breeze.’

As a result, loquat and grapes showed higher sugar content and mineral (potassium, calcium) levels compared to other regions due to abundant sunlight and sea breeze influence. The study also revealed higher contents of naringin and hesperidin, well-known bioactive compounds, indicating superior taste and quality.

Yuzu showed high levels of solids, vitamin C, and minerals, while budhihwa (citrus) and cherry tomatoes exhibited similar or higher functional substances and sugar content compared to other regions.

For the purpose of fostering marine healing functional resources, elephant garlic is cultivated on 29,700㎡ (about 9,000 pyeong) in Cheongsan-myeon’s Buheung-ri, Dangnak-ri, Eup-ri, and Docheong-ri, emerging as a new agricultural income and landscape crop.

Last year, the Wando-gun branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the Wando Agricultural Technology Center cooperated to establish a 2,000㎡ banana greenhouse in Jangja-ri for tropical fruit tree cultivation in response to climate change, and are promoting pilot projects for mangoes and conversion of idle greenhouses to new crops.

An official from the Agricultural Technology Center said, “Along with fostering regionally specialized crops, we will continuously discover and cultivate crops that utilize Wando’s warm climate for subtropical crop cultivation to help increase farmers' income in response to market changes.”