대한민국 이과류(심) 인사이트

[Reporter Lee Pyeong-jin, Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper] It appears that the demand for apple seedlings has increased significantly this year. Supply is running out and cannot meet demand. It has already been confirmed that it is virtually impossible to find seedlings at the Gyeongsan Seedling Market in Gyeongbuk and the Okcheon Seedling Market in Chungbuk. Kim Cheol-gi, the head of Green Seedling Farm in Iwon-myeon, Okcheon-gun, Chungbuk, said, “Apple seedlings are in chaos this year. There are many people looking for them, but there are no seedlings. Gyeongsan is already ending, but here it is just beginning, and there are no seedlings.” According to him, apple seedling production has not decreased. It is at the average level. Nevertheless, as demand increases, a supply shortage is occurring.

[Reporter Woo Jeong-su, Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper] In order to respond to climate change, including the continued rise in temperature on the Korean Peninsula, in the fruit industry, it was suggested that, along with predicting changes in the cultivation areas of major fruit crops based on climate change scenarios, it is necessary to expand early warning services for meteorological disasters, develop new cultivation technologies and varieties, and expand the application of crop disaster insurance. This is the result of a study titled “Changes in the domestic fruit industry due to climate change and mid- to long-term tasks” recently announced by Jeon Ji-hye, director of the Climate Change Response Agriculture Research Institute at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration. Director Jeon said, “In the case of apples, the cultivation areas in Gyeongbuk and Chungbuk have decreased due to climate warming, and in the past year,

[Reporter Seong-je Cho, Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper] Gyeongsangbuk-do, the largest apple producing region in the country, is predicting that there will be no more ‘golden apple’ crisis this year ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday due to the increase in apple production last year. According to the data from Statistics Korea released in December last year, the national apple production last year was 460,000 tons, a 16.6% increase from 2023 (394,000 tons). In addition, the production per 10a in 2024 was found to be 1,912 kg, a 19.7% increase from 1,598 kg in 2023. Gyeongsangbuk-do said that this increase in production is less than the average apple production level of 490,000 tons.