Kimcheon 'Shine Muscat Craze' Sparks Land Parcel Buying... Warning Signs of Quality Decline

'Fruit Heaven' Gimcheon-si Emerges as 'Biggest Cash Cow' Item
Recently, 'Pojonmaemae' and Illegal Transfer of Packaging Materials Raise Alarm

The promotional event for Shine Muscat in Gimcheon City.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] In the Gyeongbuk Gimcheon area, known as the 'Fruit Paradise,' warning signs of quality deterioration are sounding for 'Shine Muscat,' which has emerged as a new representative fruit.

As domestic and international consumption rapidly increases, a phenomenon called 'pojeonmaemae,' a pre-harvest contract farming method where the entire crop is bought and sold while still planted in the field, has appeared at cultivation sites. Amid this overheated situation, Gimcheon City is anxiously concerned that the decline in quality may lead to a loss of consumer trust.

According to Gimcheon City on the 28th, the Shine Muscat cultivation farms in the Gimcheon area, a major domestic grape production region, number 1,200 across 1,400 hectares, the largest scale nationwide. The volume produced by these farms accounts for 35% of the national total.

The export figures are even more astonishing. Last year, grape exports from Gyeongbuk Province reached $17.96 million (78.7% of the national total), about six times higher than in 2016. Of this, 80% ($14.31 million) was Shine Muscat. Most of the grape exports from Gyeongbuk Province come from Shine Muscat farms in the Gimcheon area.

This outcome is the result of actively promoting a new variety developed in Japan about ten years ago, adapted to local conditions by regional agricultural technology institutes. Since around 2011, grape producers have switched their cultivation to Shine Muscat, and the Gimcheon area has quickly established itself as a major Shine Muscat production region.

Until a few years ago, Shine Muscat did not attract much attention from consumers, but with its crisp texture edible with the skin and high sugar content, it has been called the 'Mango Grape,' quickly rising above other grape varieties to become a 'premium fruit.'

With this 'Shine Muscat craze' in the Gimcheon area, recently, pre-harvest transactions involving the entire field with added premiums, known as pojeon (field) trading, and rumors of illegal packaging material transfers have been spreading. In fact, recently, agricultural producers who shipped products below quality management standards (3 Shine Muscat farms, 15 plum farms) were caught and had their subsidies for 'Gimcheon& Packaging Materials' provided by Gimcheon City reclaimed.

Detecting the abnormal overheating phenomenon in Shine Muscat cultivation sites, Gimcheon City has been on high alert, changing the 'Gimcheon& Packaging Materials' support project, which had been accepting applications from individual farms, to be based on producer groups (such as agricultural cooperatives and farming associations).

Considering that quality management for field-owning farms is not properly conducted at the harvest stage after pojeonmaemae, Gimcheon City plans to start an investigation from November to identify pojeonmaemae and illegal packaging material transfers through shipment performance verification.

Kim Young-woo, head of the Agricultural Food Distribution Division of Gimcheon City, said, "As the cultivation area of Shine Muscat increases, the domestic Shine Muscat distribution market appears to have already reached saturation," adding, "During practical education for farmers and Shine Muscat cultivation technology training, we will encourage restraint in early harvesting and excessive fruit setting, and focus on education to strengthen marketability through proper cluster management."