• Title/Summary/Keyword: Imported food

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A study on the improvement of distribution system by overseas agricultural investment (해외농업투자에 따른 유통체계 개선방안에 관한 연구)

  • Sun, Il-Suck;Lee, Dong-Ok
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.17-26
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    • 2010
  • Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

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Development trend of the mushroom industry (버섯 산업의 발달 동향)

  • Yoo, Young Bok;Oh, Min Ji;Oh, Youn Lee;Shin, Pyung Gyun;Jang, Kab Yeul;Kong, Won Sik
    • Journal of Mushroom
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.142-154
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    • 2016
  • Worldwide production of mushrooms has been increasing by 10-20% every year. Recently, Pleurotus eryngii and P. nebrodensis have become popular mushroom species for cultivation. In particular, China exceeded 8.7 million tons in 2002, which accounted for 71.5% of total world output. A similar trend was also observed in Korea. Two kinds of mushrooms-Gumji (金芝; Ganoderma) and Seoji-are described in the ancient book 'Samguksagi' (History of the three kingdoms; B.C 57~A.D 668; written by Bu Sik Kim in 1145) during the Korea-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms are also described in more than 17 ancient books during the Chosun-dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Approximately 200 commercial strains of 38 species of mushrooms were developed and distributed to cultivators. The somatic hybrid variety of oyster mushroom, 'Wonhyeong-neutari,' was developed by protoplast fusion, and distributed to growers in 1989. Further, the production of mushrooms as food was 199,829 metric tons, valued at 850 billion Korean Won (one trillion won if mushroom factory products are included) in 2015. In Korea, the major cultivated species are P. ostreatus, P. eryngii, Flammulina velutipes, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma lucidum, which account for 90% of the total production. Since mushroom export was initiated in 1960, the export and import of mushrooms have increased in Korea. Technology was developed for liquid spawn production, and automatic cultivation systems led to the reduction of production cost, resulting in the increase in mushroom export. However, some species were imported owing to high production costs for effective cultivation methods. In academia, RDA scientists have conducted mushroom genome projects since 1997. One of the main outcomes is the whole genome sequencing of Flammulina velutipes for molecular breeding. With regard to medicinal mushrooms, we have been conducting genome research on Cordyceps and its related species for developing functional foods. There are various kinds of beneficial substances in mushrooms; mushroom products, including pharmaceuticals, tonics, healthy beverages, functional biotransformants, and processed foods have also became available on the market. In addition, compost and feed can likewise be made from mushroom substrates after harvest.

Distribution Status of Invasive Alien Species (Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852)) Using Biomonitoring with Environmental DNA in South Korea (생물모니터링 및 환경유전자(eDNA)를 이용한 침입외래종 미국가재(Procambarus clarkii)의 한국분포 현황)

  • Jung, Sang Woo;Lee, Jae-Ha;Kawai, Tadashi;Kim, Phil-Jae;Kim, SuHwan
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.368-380
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    • 2022
  • Biomonitoring of an invasive alien crayfish species, Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), was performed from February to October 2021, along with environmental DNA analysis, at five locations including Wanju-gun, Hampyeong-gun, Naju-si, Gurye-gun, and Cheongju-si. For the investigation, an umbrella-shaped trap for adults and a hand net for young crayfish were used, and 8 to 10L of freshwater was collected for eDNA analysis. The current status and past distributional records of crayfish in Korea were analyzed along with benthic macroinvertebrates at each survey site. As a result of the investigation, a total of 122 individuals were identified, and Hampyeong-gun recorded the largest number of populations with 59 individuals (48.36%) and the highest environmental DNA (eDNA). The frequency of appearance of P. clarkii was highest in May. The ratio of females to males was 21:5, and the body size was 72.2±21.1mm for female, 80.5±15.6mm for male, and 25.3±9.8mm for young crayfish. P. clarkii introduced into Korea is mainly spreading in the southwest region and it has not been observed in Seoul where there had been a record of appearance in the past. No external symbiosis (Branchiobdellida) of P. clarkii has been identified, and P. clarkii that has appeared in Korea was presumed to be imported from Japan. There are more than eight kinds of exotic crayfish distributed in Korea, and among them, the marbled crayfish (P. virginalis) was identified as a harmful species to the ecosystem of Korea by the Ministry of Environment in 2021. The identified species of benthic macroinvertebrates inhabiting the survey area where P. clarkii has appeared were 69 belonging to 39 families, 15 orders, five classes, and three phyla. Among them, Odonata were the most abundant (16 spp.; 24.62%), followed by Coleoptera (11 spp.; 16.92%) and Hemiptera (11 spp.; 16.92%). In the survey area, one Korean endemic species (Rhoenanthus coreanus), one species (Helophorus auriculatus) classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the Korean Red List, and six species of Crustaceans appeared. In the functional feeding group, the predators appeared predominantly while in habitat oriented group, the climbers appeared to be abundant. It was confirmed that P. clarkii in the survey area prefers an area rich in aquatic vegetation with waterside vegetation, and has high resistance to turbid water quality. The omnivore invader P. clarkii is expected to maintain a competitive relationship with carnivorous benthic macroinvertebrates that are predominant in the same species, and is expected to continue to generate ecosystem disturbance along the food chains.