• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.292-299
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• 2018

In a survey in which farmers were asked about their levels of satisfaction with agricultural machines, Japanese products scored higher than local products by 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 times for tractors, combine harvesters, and rice transplanter, respectively. Japanese products corresponded to generally high satisfaction levels in terms of operating performance, operability, frequency of breakdowns, and durability, excluding sales price and after-sales services. Effective countermeasures through quality improvement are therefore necessary for Korean products. Furthermore, a survey of dealers showed that the components and consumables for core agricultural machines had high frequencies of breakdowns and repairs. Four major components of tractors represented 85.3% of all breakdowns and repairs, five components of combine harvesters represented 89.6%, and three components of rice transplanters represented 80.5%. Moreover, a comparison of the technological levels between local and imported machines showed that the local machines' levels were at 60-100% for tractors, 70-100% for combine harvesters, and 70-95% for rice transplanters. Small and mid-sized tractors, 4 interrow combine harvesters, and 6 interrow rice transplanters showed similar levels of technology. The results of the analysis suggest that action is urgently needed at a policy level to establish an agricultural machinery component research center for the development, production, and supply of commonly-used components, with the participation of manufacturers of agricultural machines and components, in order to enhance the competitiveness of local manufacturers and to revitalize the agricultural machine market.