Abstract
Conditions of farm crop switching are affected by several important external factors such as agricultural products import opening, policy support, and climate change. Farming environment is always changing; barriers to imports are becoming lower and lower because of FTA and others, and climate change affects a boundary line of cultivation. Those situations give farmers motivation to change crops in order to cope with them. In addition, crop switching has been done in response to the local government measures about purchase of local agricultural products according to the local food and the expansion of organic agricultural products in school meal. Even though the favorable environment toward crop switching has been created, there are not many researches or outcomes regarding crop switching. Only few studies focus on the list of decision-making in crop switching, and locally suitable crop selection is not treated. In order to utilize crop switching as a farm management strategy, the proper frame should be studied and practical researches on application possibility also need. Therefore, study on crop switching is in a timely, proactive manner because farms catch the chance of expansion of school meal by changing crops. This paper applies HERO model used for venture foundation process to crop switching process. Success factors of HERO model are comprised of Habitate, Entrepreneurship, Resource, and Opportunity, and these phased application factors are applied to crop switching process. By doing so, each phase success factor of crop switching can be uncovered. Three farm organizations supplying organic agricultural products to schools are studied in Gyeonggi province. As a result, the stabilization stage cannot be achieved because of the habitate conditions and social conditions with low risk bearing of crop switching and current school meal systems are the main problems to block the diversification of risks. In order to succeed in crop switching, constructing the habitate in local districts or in systems of school meal is more effective than supporting each farm.