Hwasun-gun Establishes Foundation for Subtropical Crop Banana to Respond to Climate Change

On the 29th, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it has taken the first step toward establishing a foundation for banana cultivation among subtropical crops in response to climate change, and aims to develop and establish subtropical cultivation techniques suitable for the agricultural environment of Hwasun-gun.

Hwasun-gun, which traditionally has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons in Korea's mid-latitude zone, experienced weather this summer reminiscent of a subtropical climate characterized by localized heavy rains and hot, humid conditions.

Banana Glass Greenhouse. [Photo by Hwasun-gun]

In response to this shift toward a subtropical climate and to proactively create a new income base, an investment of 3.6 billion KRW is being made to support the construction of banana greenhouses covering 3.25 hectares for three general farms and four young farmers.

The reason for selecting bananas as the crop is due to the spread of banana diseases caused by the deadly fungus Fusarium oxysporum, which is expanding in the world's largest banana-producing regions.

As high-quality open-field banana cultivation is expected to decline, semi-permanent greenhouses are being installed to build infrastructure by planting banana varieties with high regional adaptability.

Additionally, by linking with Hanwoo cattle farms, banana agricultural by-products will be used as feed for Hanwoo cattle to reduce livestock management costs, and efforts are underway to preemptively prepare for launching a banana Hanwoo brand.

Moreover, compared to apple mangoes, bananas require less labor for post-planting management, which is expected to be advantageous in rural areas facing labor shortages.

A county official stated, “We will strive to establish a cooperative system with farmers so that Hwasun-gun bananas can become the leading domestic organic bananas nationwide.”

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