Research Reports
Study on Industrialization of Eco-Friendly Microbial Materials in Jeollanamdo
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AuthorKim, Yeanjung
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Publication Date2010.10.01
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Original
Jeollanamdo is promoting environment-friendly agriculture. The province produces 52% of all environment-friendly agricultural products in Korea. Currently, 34% of cultivated land in the region are for environment-friendly agriculture, and the local government plans to expand the ratio of pesticide-free acreage to total cultivation land to 45% by 2014.
Microbial materials such as microbial pesticides, fertilizers, and probiotics are essential parts of organic farming. But because of the small scale of microbial production, the price of microbial materials is high and the quality is inconsistent, and this makes it very difficult for farmers to use them. To overcome this problem, Jeollanamdo is presenting ways of industrializing microbial materials.
As part of this effort, Jeollanamdo plans to expand the supply of high-quality microbial materials and increase the satisfaction level of farmers. The methods to be use for achieving the goal are to provide assistance in technology-related fields, like formulation of microbial materials, launch quality assurance projects, educate farmers and microbial materials producers, and strengthen consulting and publicity promotion.
The market size of eco-friendly agricultural products is projected to grow from 3.7355 trillion won in 2009. Even though the increase rate of the market will slow down from 2010, when there will be no more labeling of new low-pesticide products, the market size is still expected to grow to 4.094 trillion won in 2010 and to 5.0955 trillion won in 2013. In 2015, when the labeling of low-pesticide products will be abolished altogether, the market is predicted to shrink to 4.9216 trillion won if we assume that some low-pesticide crops will be labeled as pesticide-free or organic. However, the market is projected to gradually recover afterward to 7.0676 trillion won in 2020 to account for 20% of the entire agricultural products market.
According to four different scenarios, the demand for microbial materials in 2020 will be different. Scenario 1 puts the demand at 125.5 billion won, and scenarios 2, 3, and 4 put the projections at 179.3 billion, 233.1 billion, and 303 billion won respectively.
The mid- and long-term development strategy for the microbial materials industry in Jeollanamdo can largely be summed up in three directions.
First, the strategy is set on establishing and operating a microbiology research center for eco-friendly agriculture. The center's vision and goals are set on supporting environment-friendly agriculture by providing assistance to producers of microbial materials who, as new engines of growth, can supply safe and functional microbial materials.
Second, synergy effects should be created through a network among bio-firms. Since there already are seven specialized research centers in the region for bio-industry promotion, synergy effects can be created if some of the operations and functions of each research center are exercised in conjunction with the microbiology research center.
Third, microbiology-related research institutes across the country should form a cluster with the government, industries, and academia to create synergy effects as building the cluster has the advantage of reducing the costs, maximizing the profits, and enhancing the regional competitiveness.
Researchers: Kim, Yean-Jung; Jeong, Eun-Mee; Lee, Woong-Yeon; Park, Soon-Chul
E-mail address: yjkim@krei.re.kr, jeongem@krei.re.kr
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