Background of Research
Competitiveness of Korean greenhouse industries can be enhanced by reducing production costs and improving quality of products. To this end, the role of the material industries for greenhouses is very important as an upstream industry. However, strategies and policies for developing the material industry have not been fully studied. Therefore, it is necessary to establish strategies and programs to cope with future demands and for development by examining the current situation and issues involved in the material industry for protected cultivation of horticulture crops. This study focuses on insulation materials including agricultural films (so-called vinyl in Korean), nonwoven fabrics and steel pipes for agriculture as essential production materials for greenhouse industries in Korea. This focus aims to examine the current industrial structure of the material industry and issues involved, and suggest strategies and policy programs.

Methodology of Research
Data and literature of related authorities including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Development Administration (RDA) were collected and analyzed to examine the current market structure of the material industry for protected cultivation of horticulture crops. In addition, an analysis was made of the data of related manufacturer associations and Nonghyup including the Korea Plastics Film Association, the Korea Iron & Steel Association, the Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative, the Korea Agricultural Facilities Association and the Korea Agricultural Material Industry Association. An in-depth interview survey was carried out with main material manufacturers and farmers of protected cultivation of horticulture crops who are consumers of the materials to make an analysis of current production and involved issues of manufacturers of each material, current consumers, issues and improvement schemes. In addition, meetings and conferences were held with participants from the Research Institute of Greenhouse Horticulture of the National Institute of Horticultural & Herbal Science of RDA, Nonghyup and experts of each manufacturer association to collect experts’ opinion about issues in each industry and strategies for improvement. In this study, examination is also made of policies for protected cultivation of horticulture crops of Japan and development process of key materials of Japan of which the facility environment is similar to Korea. Opinions of experts in their concerned field were collected and are applied to this study to suggest implications of the material industry of Korea.

Result of Research and Implications
This study aims to examine current market structure and issues in the key material industry as a downstream industry of protected cultivation of horticulture crops of Korea, and suggest supplementary schemes for development and policy programs.
It is considered that the future of the material industry of protected horticulture goes with the outlook of the protected horticulture industry. The long-term prospect of installed facility area for protected cultivation shows staying at the current area or a slight increase from the current area. Therefore, it is estimated that the material industry of protected horticulture will also show development of a similar tendency.
The material industry of protected horticulture of Korea leads development of the protected horticulture industry by stably supplying quality products and developing various highly-functional products in less favorable circumstances. It is necessary to establish corresponding strategies for enhancing competitiveness for material industry development. First, it is essential to reduce expenses through joint purchase of raw materials and joint funding, and isolation of excessive facilities from manufacturing sites. In addition, it is necessary to make a multi-dimensional effort for switching industrial structure which causes too much competition and establishing measures for efficient distribution. Another effort required is to efficiently and effectively share environmental levies for recycling and disposing materials which can be total costs of the protected horticulture industry.
It is very urgent to develop and provide high-quality, high-functional and labor-saving materials to cope with changing agricultural conditions and consumer’s needs in Korea and other countries to establish a platform of the future-oriented industry. It is also necessary to select and foster industry-university-research collaboration projects and specialized enterprises for developing the aforementioned products. In addition, it is necessary to create a basis for stable domestic demands, for example, modernizing old facilities and providing high-quality, high-efficiency and reliable materials produced in Korea. It is necessary to find overseas markets for export to expand the scale of material market for protected cultivation of horticulture crops.
The protected horticulture industry of Korea has developed with government’s positive efforts. Continuing development requires consistent policies of the government and enforcement thereof. It is also necessary to make gradual efforts for maintaining paddy bases to provide and standardize the materials, establishing standardization schemes for greenhouses particular to Korea, fusion and combination of the future-oriented life industry and high-tech industry, and fostering specialized human resources.


Researchers: Suh Daeseok and Kang Changyong
Research period: 2015. 1. ~ 2015. 10.
E-mail address: dssuh@krei.re.kr and cykang@krei.re.kr