• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 1996

There are three main rice-growing regions in the United States: the prairie region along the Mississippi River Valley in eastern Arkansas; the Gulf Coast prairie region in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas; and the Central Valley of California. The Central Valley of California is producing about 23% of the US rice(Fig. 1). In California. most of the crop has been produced in the Colusa, Sutter, Butte, Glenn Counties of the Sacramento Valley since 1912, when rice was commercially grown for the first time in the state(Fig. 2). Roughly speaking, the average annual area sown to rice in California is about 300,000 acres to 400,000 acres during the last forty years(Fig. 3). California rice is grown under a Mediterranean climate characterized by warm, dry, clear days, and a long growing season favorable to high photosynthetic rates and high rice yields. The average rice yield per acre is probably higher in California than in any other rice-growing regions of the world(Fig. 4). A dependable supply of irrigation water must be available for a successful rice culture. Most of the irrigation water for California rice comes from the winter rain and snow-fed reservoir of the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. Less than 10 percent of rice irrigation water is pumped from wells in areas where surface water is not sufficient. It is also essential to have good surface drainage if maximum yields are to be produced. Rice production in California is highly mechanized, requiring only about four hours of labor per acre. Mechanization of rice culture in California includes laser-leveler technology, large tractors, self-propelled combines for harvesting, and aircraft for seeding, pest control, and some fertilization. The principal varieties grown in California are medium-grain japonica types with origins from the cooler rice climates of the northern latitudes (Table 1). Long-grain varieties grown in the American South are not well adapted to California's cooler environment. Nearly all the rice grown recently in California are improved into semidwarf varieties. Choice of variety depends on environment, planting date, quality desired, marketing, and harvesting scheduling. The Rice Experiment Station at Biggs is owned, financed, and administered by the rice industry. The station was established in 1912, as a direct result of the foresight and effort of Charles Edward Chambliss of the United States Department of Agriculture. Now, The station's major effort is the development of improved rice varieties for California.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 1986

In order to promote mechanization of corn harvesting in Korea, this study was conducted to find out the effect of moisture content on compressive properties such as force, deformation, energy and modulus of stiffness to the bioyield and the rupture point for Korean corn kernel. In this study, the loading positions of corn were flat, edge, longitude and the moisture contents were about 13, 17, 21, 25% in wet basis. The compression test was carreied out with flat plate by use of dynamic straingage for three varieties of Korean corn under quasi-static force when the loading rate was 1.125mm/min. The results of this study are summarized as follows; 1. When the moisture content of corn ranged from 12.5 to 24.5 percent, at flat position, the bioyied force was in the range of 13.63-26.73 kg and the maximum compressive strength was in the range of 21.55-47.65kg. Their values were reached minimum at about 17% and maximum at about 21% moisture content. The bioyield force was in the range of 13.58-6.70kg at edge position and the maximum compressive strength which was 16.42 to 7.82kg at edge position was lower than that which was 18.55-9.05kg at longitudinal position. 2. Deformation of corn varied from 0.43 to 1.37 mm at bioyield point and from 0.70 to 2.66mm at rupture point between 12.5 to 24.5% moisture content. As the moisture content increased, deformation was increased. 3. The moduli of resilience and toughness of corn ranged from 2.60 to 8.57kg. mm and from 6.41 to 34.36kg. mm when the moisture content ranged from 12.5 to 24.5 percent, respectively. As the moisture content increased, the modulus of toughness was increased at edge position and decreased at longitudinal position. And their values were equal each other at 22-23% moisture content. 4. The modulus of stiffness was decreased with increase in the moisture content. Its values ranged from 32.07 to 5.86 kg/mm at edge position and from 42.12 to 18.68kg/mm at flat position, respectively. Also, the values of Suweon 19 were higher than those of Buyeo. 5. It was considered that the compressive properties of corn at flat position were more important on the design data for corn harvesting and processing machinery than those of edge or longitudinal position. Also, grinding energy would be minimized when a corn was processed between about 12.5 to 17% moisture content and corn damage would be reduced when a corn was handled between about 19 to 24% moisture content in wet basis.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.5-11
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• 2002

In this study, new development of natural ventilation window was accomplished to control environment of greenhouse with no use of farced ventilation during hot season. The ventilation effect of developed ventilation window was investigated in experimental greenhouse which was designed using side wall panel and folding type panel fur natural ventilation. Folding panel type ventilation window was designed to open upper part of the side wall and top of the roof using two hinges which are located bottom of the side wall and the roof panel to grab one side of each panels and guide the other side along with the guidance rail. Developed ventilation window has top ventilation part with maximum moving distance X=ι (1-cos$\theta$)=848.5 mm and side ventilation part with maximum moving distance Y=ι/2 $\times$sin$\theta$=1,184.4 mm at 45$^{\circ}$ of theoretical opening angle. It took 4.5 minutes to open roof vent fully and temperature at 1.2 and 0.8 m height decreased after 1 minute from starting opening and became equilibrium state maintaining 3-4$^{\circ}C$ difference after 2 minutes from complete opening. Air exchange rate was 15.2~39.3 h$^{-1}$ which was more than 10~15 h$^{-1}$ of continuous type and Venlo type greenhouse. The descent effect of temperature by ventilation windows was two times higher than Venlo type greenhouse.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.145-160
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• 1979

The effects of organic material application on soil physical properties were reviewed in relation to soil productivity. The organic matter contents and soil physical properties of the cultivated land in Korea were summarized and the effects of organic matter were compared in terms of land uses and soil types. Soil physical properties related to crop yield potential, such as soil aggregation, permeability, water holding capacity, erodibility, and compactibility, were used in evaluating the effects of organic materials as a soil physical amendment. The benefical effects of organic matter addition on soil physical conditions include (1) better aeration and increased infiltration in silty and clayey soils, (2) increased water holding capacity and moisture availability in sandy soils, (3) decreased soil erodibility, and (4) increased resistance to compaction. It is, therefore, concluded that continuous application of organic materials could greatly improve the various soil physical properties and favor the growth and yield of crops. A high rate of organic matter addition could contribute to reducing not only the soil erosion on sloping land, but also the possible detrimental effect of farm mechanization. In general, the effects of organic matter on soil physical improvement were estimated to be much higher in upland than in paddy. Organic matter would have a more pronounced effect on low productive lands such as heavy clayey or sandy soils and newly reclaimed soil. The optimum level of soil organic matter content was estimated to be about 3.0 to 3.5% for the best soil physical condition. Since the organic matter contents of the cultivated lands in Korea are much lower than optimum level, it would be desiable to use more organic materials to soil for the increase of soil productivity, continuation of stabilized high productivity and soil erosion control.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.414-421
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• 2019

Pod shattering during the maturing stage causes a serious yield loss in soybean. It is the main limiting factor of soybean cultivation and mechanization. It is important to develop varieties suitable for mechanical harvesting and to develop energy-efficient agricultural machinery to save labor and costs. 'Daewonkong,' developed by the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in 1997, is an elite cultivar that occupies more than 80% of the soybean cultivation area in Korea because of its strong tolerance to pod shattering. The objectives of this study were to investigate the variation in pod shattering degree in a RIL population developed from a 'Daewonkong' parent and to select promising lines with pod shattering tolerance. 'Daewonkong' demonstrated a high level of tolerance to pod shattering compared to the 'Tawonkong' and 'Saeolkong' varieties, with no shattered pods after 72 hours of drying. Screening of pod shattering showed a clear distinction between the tolerant and susceptible varieties. Also, the distribution of shattering pod ratio in the two populations showed a similar pattern for three years. The promising lines with pod shattering tolerance included 27 lines in the 'Daewonkong'×'Tawonkong' population and 21 lines in the 'Daewonkong'×'Saeolkong' population. The promising lines are expected to be widely used as breeding parents for creating soybean cultivars with pod shattering tolerance.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.27-45
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• 1990

Two opposing views prevail regarding the economic impact of rural out-migration on the rural areas of origin. The optimistic neoclassical view argues that rapid rural out-migration is not detrimental to the income and welfare of the rural areas of origin, whereas Lipton (1980) argues the opposite. We developed our own alternative model for rural to urban migration, appropriate for rapidly developing economies such as Korea's. This model, which adopts international trade theories of nontraded goods and Dutch Disease to rural to urban migration issues, argues that rural to urban migration is caused mainly by two factors: first, the unprofitability of farming, and second, the decrease in demand for rural nontraded goods and the increase in demand for urban nontraded goods. The unprofitability of farming is caused by the increase in rural wages, which is induced by increasing urban wages in booming urban manufacturing sectors, and by the fact that the cost increases in farming cannot be shifted to consumers, because farm prices are fixed worldwide and because the income demand elasticity for farm products is very low. The demand for nontraded goods decreases in rural and increases in urban areas because population density and income in urban areas increase sharply, while those in rural areas decrease sharply, due to rapid rural to urban migration. Given that the market structure for nontraded goods-namely, service sectors including educational and health facilities-is mostly in monopolistically competitive, and that the demand for nontraded goods comes only from local sources, the urban service sector enjoys economies of scale, and can thus offer services at cheaper prices and in greater variety, whereas the rural service sector cannot enjoy the advantages offered by scale economies. Our view concerning the economic impact of rural to urban migration on rural areas of origin agrees with Lipton's pessimistic view that rural out-migration is detrimental to the income and welfare of rural areas. However, our reasons for the reduction of rural income are different from those in Lipton's model. Lipton argued that rural income and welfare deteriorate mainly because of a shortage of human capital, younger workers and talent resulting from selective rural out-migration. Instead, we believe that rural income declines, first, because a rapid rural-urban migration creates a further shortage of farm labor supplies and increases rural wages, and thus reduces further the profitability of farming and, second, because a rapid rural-urban migration causes a further decline of the rural service sectors. Empirical tests of our major hypotheses using Korean census data from 1966, 1970, 1975, 1980 and 1985 support our own model much more than the neoclassical or Lipton's models. A kun (county) with a large out-migration had a smaller proportion of younger working aged people in the population, and a smaller proportion of highly educated workers. But the productivity of farm workers, measured in terms of fall crops (rice) purchased by the government per farmer or per hectare of irrigated land, did not decline despite the loss of these youths and of human capital. The kun having had a large out-migration had a larger proportion of the population in the farm sector and a smaller proportion in the service sector. The kun having had a large out-migration also had a lower income measured in terms of the proportion of households receiving welfare payments or the amount of provincial taxes paid per household. The lower incomes of these kuns might explain why the kuns that experienced a large out-migration had difficulty in mechanizing farming. Our policy suggestions based on the tests of the currently prevailing hypotheses are as follows: 1) The main cause of farming difficulties is not a lack of human capital, but the in­crease in production costs due to rural wage increases combined with depressed farm output prices. Therefore, a more effective way of helping farm economies is by increasing farm output prices. However, we are not sure whether an increase in farm output prices is desirable in terms of efficiency. 2) It might be worthwhile to attempt to increase the size of farmland holdings per farm household so that the mechanization of farming can be achieved more easily. 3) A kun with large out-migration suffers a deterioration in income and welfare. Therefore, the government should provide a form of subsidization similar to the adjustment assistance provided for international trade. This assistance should not be related to the level of farm output. Otherwise, there is a possibility that we might encourage farm production which would not be profitable in the absence of subsidies. 4) Government intervention in agricultural research and its dissemination, and large-scale social overhead projects in rural areas, carried out by the Korean government, might be desirable from both efficiency and equity points of view. Government interventions in research are justified because of the problems associated with the appropriation of knowledge, and government actions on large-scale projects are justified because they required collective action.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.20-32
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• 1982

This survey was conducted to investigate the present status of farm tractor utilization for obtaining a basic reference to the establishment of the government's agricultural mechanization strategies. Thirty two counties from the eight provinces except Jeju were covered in this study. From these selected areas, 433 sample farms having farm tractor were taken to obtain the general informations by the enquete, and 93 sample farms among them to investigate the status of daily tractor use in the year of 1980. The analyzed results are summarized as follows: 1. Farm tractors owned by the rice-oriented farms holds 71.5 percent of the total number of tractors the livestock-oriented farms 17.0 percent, and the orchard-oriented farms 7.0 percent. Among the farm tractors 64.3 percent was a large size (46ps) and 35.7 percent a small size(19~23ps). 2. Most of the tractors surveyed were equipped with the essential attachments such as plow and rotavator. About 18 percent of the tractor owners had no trailer, which seemed too high considering the large percentage of tractor use for transportation. The availability of other attachments was very low except a grader on the rice-oriented farms and a hay harvester and a front loader on the livestock-oriented farms. 3. The average size of farm was 3.9 hectare for the rice-oriented farms, 13.9 hectare for the livestock-oriented farms and 7.4 hectare for the orchard-oriented farms. It was obious that the average farm size of was too small compared to the theoretical machine capacity of the tractors. 4. About 70 percent of the tractor operators were in the age of twenties and thirties. About 90 percent of them had an educational level of middle school graduate or above even though their technical level was very low. 5. Any particular problem in tractor use was not found in this survey. From the farmer's preference for purchasing a new tractor, however, it is estimated the demand on a 20-30ps tractor will be more increased. 6. The average annual use of tractor was of about 100 days or 400 hours. It appeared that the rice-oriented farms used most with 412.4 hours per year, and followed by the livestock-oriented farms with 403.6 hours, the orchard oriented farms with 377.7 hours. 7. Among the total hours of tractor use, 47.3 percent was for transportation, and 41.6 percent was for plowing and rotary tillage. The largest portion of the annual tractor use was taken by transportation on the livestock-oriented farms, by land preperation on the rice-oriented farms, and by loading and chemical spraying on the orchard-oriented farms. 8. The hours of tractor use had a peak in May. The hours of use for own farm was remarkably different among the different farm oriented, but there was no considerable difference between the too different sizes of tractor. 9. The hours of tractor use decreased as the age of the operator or the educational level increased. The reason might be that the operators who had a high educational level or were older had a tendency of disliking custom works. 10. The average custom use of tractor was 171.3 hours per year, and the ratio of custom work was 63.7 percent on the rice-oriented farms, 31.7 percent on the livestock-oriented farms and 22.4 percent on the orchard-oriented farms. Among the custom works, the most popular one was the grader leveling. 11. The charge on custom work was about 40,000 Won per hectare for plowing and rotary tillage, and it was the most expensive in the southeastern region, and next followed by the southwestern region. 12. The average plowing capacity of the small tractor was 7.8 hours per hectare in the paddy field, and that of the large tractors was 4.3 hours per hectare. The average rotary-tilling capacities of the small and the large tractors were 6.5 and 4.3 hours per hectare, in the paddy field respectively.