Sangju's Kim In-nam Selected as 'Korea's Top Agricultural Technology Master' ... 42 Years of Cucumber Farming

The Gyeongbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Services announced on the 12th that Kim In-nam (69) from Sangju City has been selected as the '2023 Korea's Best Agricultural Technology Master (Vegetables)'.

The Korea's Best Agricultural Technology Master is a system organized by the Rural Development Administration to select farmers who possess top-level agricultural technology and have contributed to the development of local agriculture and rural areas. Since 2009, one master has been selected in each category of food crops, fruit trees, vegetables, flowers & special crops, and livestock.

Kim In-nam from Sangju, selected as Korea's Master of Agricultural Technology.

Master Kim In-nam cultivates 3,300㎡ of greenhouse cucumbers in Hamchang-eup, Sangju City, Gyeongbuk, with 42 years of experience in cucumber farming. He has improved the production environment and reduced management costs through efforts to alleviate continuous cropping obstacles in greenhouse vegetables, advanced cultivation facilities, and joint use of packaging materials.

He has also given lectures on cucumber soil management, pests and diseases, and other cucumber cultivation techniques at agricultural technology centers nationwide, Gyeongbuk Farmers' Academy, and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. In particular, he has been dedicated to training successor farmers by providing education and technical consulting volunteer services to new farmers wishing to cultivate cucumbers.

Gyeongbuk Province has produced masters such as Moon Jeon-bok (apples) from Mungyeong in 2011, Lee Jin-woo (garlic) from Uiseong in 2014, Lee Myung-hwa (Korean melons) from Seongju in 2017, Oh Sam-gyu (Korean beef) from Yeongju in 2021, and Lee Yoon-do (fruit trees) from Gyeongsan in 2022. Especially this year, with masters selected for three consecutive years, it has demonstrated the status of Gyeongbuk as a true agricultural province.

Jo Young-sook, director of the Gyeongbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Services, said, “We will support the transfer of farming experience and technology of Gyeongbuk agricultural technology masters to successor farmers, discover excellent ideas from the field, industrialize them, and work harder to develop Gyeongbuk agriculture.”