Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services to Establish Nation's Largest Hydroponic Green Onion Complex

Expansion to 8.8 Hectares...
Establishing Green Onions as a High-Income Smart Farm Crop

Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services promoting the establishment of the nation's largest-scale hydroponic green onion cultivation complex. Hydroponic green onion cultivation at Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services. / Photo by Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services

The Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services announced on April 29 that it will officially launch a project to establish the nation’s largest-scale hydroponic green onion cultivation complex.

According to the Agricultural Research and Extension Services, 86% of the total 5,828 hectares of green onion cultivation nationwide (5,032 hectares in open fields and 796 hectares in facilities) relies on open-field farming. As a result, supply instability due to weather fluctuations such as heat waves or heavy rains has been a persistent issue.

To proactively address these problems, since 2021 the Agricultural Research and Extension Services has conducted a hydroponic green onion pilot project. This project demonstrated that the cultivation period can be shortened by more than 10 days compared to conventional methods, and that a multi-cropping system (6 to 8 harvests per year) can be established, resulting in an income increase of more than three times compared to soil-based cultivation.

Currently, the facility cultivation area in Chungnam Province stands at 499 hectares, which is 62.7% of the national facility cultivation area of 796 hectares, making it the largest in the country. Leveraging this strength, the Agricultural Research and Extension Services plans to expand the hydroponic cultivation area to 8.8 hectares this year by selecting a total of 39 sites, including 9 young farmers.

This represents an approximately fourfold increase from the previous year and is expected to further solidify the smart farm brand for green onions in the Chungnam region.

On February 21, the Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services established the “Chungnam Green Onion Hydroponic Cultivation Research Association,” with participation from nine cities and counties. The organization is further strengthening the public-private cooperation system and accelerating efforts to stabilize the technology.

In particular, this year’s project budget has been significantly increased to 2.67 billion won, six times higher than last year, in order to discover new projects and expand single-crop projects, thereby driving the large-scale establishment of the hydroponic cultivation complex.

The Agricultural Research and Extension Services plans to strengthen on-site inspections and technical support at each growth stage in cooperation with the Specialized Crop Research Institute, and to enhance self-sufficiency by expanding and distributing manuals for self-seeding complexes.

A representative from the Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services stated, “The hydroponic green onion cultivation technology developed in Chungnam is drawing attention from local governments nationwide, and Chungnam is taking the lead in its adoption. Through this year’s large-scale project, we aim to establish green onions as a high-income smart farm crop, following strawberries and tomatoes.”

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