The Goryeong-gun Agricultural Technology Center in North Gyeongsang Province held an educational session on June 16 for 44 students and 10 auditors from the Strawberry High-bed Seedling Department at Daegaya Agricultural Technology University, focusing on strawberry cultivation trends and the physiological and ecological characteristics of strawberries.
Goryeong County Agricultural Technology Center is conducting education on strawberry cultivation trends and physiological and ecological characteristics for 44 students majoring in Strawberry High-Temperature Seedling Production at Daegaya Agricultural Technology University and 10 auditing students. Provided by Goryeong County
The instructor for this session was Dr. Kim Taeil, known as the 'Strawberry Hero.' Dr. Kim contributed to transforming Korea's strawberry industry, which had been dependent on Japanese varieties, by developing a variety of domestic strawberry breeds including Seolhyang, and significantly increasing the distribution rate of domestic varieties.
His research results and the varieties he developed now hold an important place in the domestic strawberry market and have also contributed to raising the international recognition of Korean strawberries.
Based on his deep insight and experience in strawberry variety development, Dr. Kim introduced practical cultivation techniques centered on improving the quality of Seolhyang strawberries and pre-treatment methods. He presented ways to optimize the sugar content and texture of Seolhyang strawberries through pre-treatment, emphasizing that this enables farmers to achieve more stable profits.
After the lecture, a Q&A session was held with the participants. Many students were curious about the royalty issues related to the development of Seolhyang. Dr. Kim explained, "At that time, there was a lack of awareness about plant variety protection rights, so I did not receive any royalty income that could have been earned from variety development."
The specific amount of strawberry royalties demanded by Japan was known to be about 3 to 6 billion KRW per year, as mentioned at the time. This was the amount Japan requested for Korean strawberry varieties after Korea joined the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in 2008, which required royalties to be paid for foreign varieties.
This amount was the royalty incurred when using foreign varieties such as the Japanese 'Akihime,' and Korean farmers had to pay this fee annually if they used Japanese varieties. As a result, researchers like Dr. Kim Taeil made great efforts to develop domestic varieties to reduce dependence on Japanese varieties and help Korean farmers avoid paying royalties. Thanks to these efforts, Dr. Kim succeeded in developing domestic varieties like 'Seolhyang,' which continues to have a significant impact on the Korean strawberry industry.
County Governor Lee Namcheol stated, "We will continue to provide reliable information and education based on Dr. Kim Taeil's extensive research and experience to ensure that the Strawberry High-bed Seedling program is successfully established in Goryeong-gun."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
