• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of crop diversification on farm households' agricultural income. Abundant literature have explored the determinants and efficient strategies for crop diversification. Yet, there is a paucity of research studies that empirically test the effectiveness of crop diversification as a profitable farm management strategy. Utilizing the 2015 Agricultural Census, this study adopts a quasi-experimental research design to compare the outcomes between farm households that opted for crop diversification and farm households that did not engage in such a strategy. In doing so, this study applies the Heckman Selection Model and the decomposition technique to address the problem of selection bias and to identify the causal effect. Our empirical results show that farms that implement diversification are more likely to earn higher agricultural income than non-diversified farms, although the difference would not be much substantial. This study concludes with several policy proposals to stabilize agricultural income in conjunction with crop diversification.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2019

Securing manpower in rural areas is critical to improving the productive potential and overcome challenges caused by changes in the demographic structure and the need for diversification of the rural economy. This underpins the importance of nurturing young farmers in order to enhance the agricultural competitiveness in the rural areas. On the other hand, 42.3% of young farmers under the age of 40, which is the target age of the government-sponsored program to foster young farmers, grow rice. Meanwhile, 42.3% of the farmers are under 40 years of age which is a category of farmers targeted under the government sponsored program to advance rice production. In this study, a bivariate probit model is used to conduct substantive analysis on the potential political interventions that would persuade young farmers in the rural areas to participate in rice production in the 6th industry. In summary, most important factors identified as to influence participation of young farmers in the diversification of crop production are the utilization of information device, land, ownership of agricultural machinery, and the leasing of the cultivating land.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.139-149
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• 2018

Background: Ethiopia is among the poorest countries where land degradation caused livelihood problem to its inhabitants. The livelihood of rural communities in Ethiopia is seriously threatened by land degradation. Land is the major natural resource that economic, social, infrastructure, and other human activities are undertaken on. Thus, land resources play an important role in shaping rural livelihoods, and lack of sustainable land management practices leads to land degradation. Thus, this study aimed to analyze interlink between land degradation and livelihood of rural communities in Chilga district, Northwest Ethiopia. It also addresses the factors which influence income diversification for livelihood of households in the study area. Result: The result depicts that the major causes of land degradation are both natural and anthropogenic. Land degradation and livelihood are negatively interlinked with each other. The livelihood of the majority of the population in the study area is dependent on subsistence agriculture both farming and animal husbandry with low diversification. The survey result showed that more than half (69%) of the sample households have farm size of less than 2 ha, nearly one third (31%) have 2.0-2.5 ha, and insignificant number of farmers have more than 2.5 ha. More than 80% of the respondents pointed out that land degradation has impacts both on crop yield and livestock production. Most of the explanatory variables such as gender, age, education level, farmland size, and family size have statistical significant influence (at P < .01 and P < .05 levels) for income diversification of households, while marital status on the other hand is not statistically significant though it has positive relation with income diversification in this study. Conclusions: Our results suggest awareness should be created in the community about the livelihood diversification mechanisms which enabled them to engage in different income-generating activities and comprehensive watershed management should be implemented.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.143-159
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• 2012

Agricultural income is calculated with producer price, output and management cost. This study compared organic farming with conventional one for agricultural income, producer price and output by items. And then it proposed the method of item selection and crop system from a diversification point of view. The coefficient of variation to producer prices in organic farming was 4.7%, and conventional one was 30.3% because organic products have been produced in a system of contract farming with consumers' cooperative. This result means the price of organic products is stabler than that of conventional price. And agricultural income of organic farming has been generally known more than that of conventional one. However, agricultural gross income of conventional farming was more than that of organic one by 20.3% in 2010. It was caused by output reduction of a few items(fer example; onion, large green onion, potato and young pumpkin) due to freak weather conditions and constant producer price for several years in organic farming. In order to increase agricultural income, appropriate crop selection and system should be introduced to organic farming. A principal crop is the rice plant and 2 subordinate crops are dry crops at bare field and greenhouse respectively. Thus 5 crop systems that agricultural gross income are relatively increased larger among 15 crop systems estimated are rice+ginger+cucumber, rice+ginger+tomato, rice+large green onion+cucumber, rice+sweet potato+cucumber and rice+onion+ cucumber.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.699-727
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• 2012

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.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.405-416
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• 2019

Weeds are a serious problem in crop production. Use of synthetic herbicides is rapidly increasing in weed management worldwide including Korea. Herbicide application reduces the time spent on weed control. However, the evolution of resistance to herbicides in weeds has become widespread as a natural response to selection pressure imposed by agricultural management activities. If an herbicide with the same mechanisms of action is used repeatedly and intensively, it can rapidly select for a weed biotype that shifts toward difficult-to-control becoming a more tolerant weed and lead to the evolution of herbicideresistant weeds. Moreover, agricultural and biological factors have an important role in the development of herbicide-resistant weed populations. Mitigating the evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds relies on reducing selection through the diversification of weed control techniques. The resistance management of weeds in the future will strongly depend on intensive cropping systems. The current situation of intensive cropping systems with their heavy reliance on the efficacy of chemical weed control will not lead to significant containment of this problem. Therefore, management strategies need to overcome the further spread of herbicide resistance in weeds in Korean crop production. This review presents the current information on herbicide resistance in Korea and factors controlling the development of herbicide resistant weeds.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.367-386
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• 2020

The significance of this study was to analyze the quality value of organic livestock pork for the first time based on the results of managing and testing the cycling organic farming of black pork and vegetables within farm for two years. The results of analysis could be summarized as follows. First, the pork of experimental group with crop-livestock cycling farming showed the excellent quality and high consumer preference compared to the control group of general pork or pork from non-crop-livestock cycling organic farming. In the content ratio of Omega-3 as a representative essential fatty acid, it was 1.46 that was about 2.8 times more than general pork (0.52). In case of Omega-6, it had about 2.5 times more than general pork. Especially, the U/S ratio value which was the content ratio of Unsaturated Fatty Acid (UFA, U) of Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA, S), was largely shown in pork (2.93) from cycling organic farming. Second, it would be necessary to maintain the economies of scope shown in crop-livestock cycling organic farming, and the high quality value of livestock products. For this, there should be a value chain model that could realize the economies of scope and economies of scale at the same time based on scaling and diversification through cooperative organization between farmers. Through this, it would be possible to establish a cycling model called 'community cooperative agriculture' by forming local internal markets through cooperation of production-processing and integration of distribution-sale-consumption. For the managerial activation of this cooperative organization, the government should promote/support the small crop-livestock cycling organic farming cooperative organization in local unit. For securing the reliability of crop-livestock cycling organic agricultural products and crop-livestock cycling organic livestock products, it would be necessary to review the introduction of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.171-194
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• 2004

The antebellum American South has been characterized by the lingering backward images of plantation, slaves and cotton. The South specializing in the cotton cultivation is compared with the manufacturing East and the breadbasket Midwest. Douglass North who examined the interregional trade assumed that the South up until 1860 relied on the Midwest for the foodstuffs. Statistical and literary evidence, however, disputes the North's model, showing instead that the southern region attained self-sufficiency in foodstuffs at least in the late 1830s or early 1840s. The South's food self-sufficiency is attributable, to a greater extent, to the region-wide environmental movement of scientific agriculture launched to address the aggravating soil problems from cotton monoculture. Diversification and crop rotation lied in the center of the new regime. The new agricultural system combining com, cotton and cowpea ensured the procurement of hoecake, hog meat, and cotton. The most significant outcome of the good farming regime, however, was the enhanced environmental consciousness which came to prevail the best farmer's reckless rush for profit maximization.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.397-409
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• 2013

The full-genome sequences of fourteen isolates of Broad bean wilt virus 2 (BBWV2), collected from broad bean, pea, spinach, bell pepper and paprika plants in Korea during the years 2006-2012, were determined and analyzed comparatively along with fifteen previously reported BBWV2 genome sequences. Sequence analyses showed that RNA-1 and RNA-2 sequences of BBWV2 Korean isolates consisted of 5950-5956 and 3568-3604 nucleotides, respectively. Full-length genome sequence-based phylogenetic analyses revealed that the BBWV2 Korean isolates could be divided into three major groups comprising GS-I (isolates BB2 and RP7) along with isolate IP, GS-II (isolates BB5, P2, P3 and RP3) along with isolate B935, and GS-III including 16 BBWV2 Korean isolates. Interestingly, GS-III appears to be newly emerged and predominant in Korea. Recombination analyses identified two recombination events in the analyzed BBWV2 population: one in the RNA-1 of isolate K and another one in the RNA-2 of isolate XJ14-3. However, no recombination events were detected in the other 21 Korean isolates. On the other hand, out of 29 BBWV2 isolates, 16 isolates were found to be re-assortants, of which each RNA segment (i.e. RNA1 and RNA2) was originated from different parental isolates. Our findings suggested that reassortment rather than recombination is a major evolutionary force in the genetic diversification of BBWV population in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.305-313
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• 2020

Host shifting and host expansion of fungal plant pathogens increases the rate of emergence of new pathogens and the incidence of disease in various crops, which threaten global food security. Magnaporthe species cause serious disease in rice, namely rice blast disease, as well as in many alternative hosts, including wheat, barley, and millet. A severe outbreak of wheat blast due to Magnaporthe oryzae occurred recently in Bangladesh, after the fungus was introduced from South America, causing great loss of yield. This outbreak of wheat blast is of growing concern, because it might spread to adjacent wheat-producing areas. Therefore, it is important to understand the host range and population structure of M. oryzae and related species for determining the evolutionary relationships among Magnaporthe species and for managing blast disease in the field. Here, we collected isolates of M. oryzae and related species from various Poaceae species, including crops and weeds surrounding rice fields, in Korea and determined their phylogenetic relationships and host species specificity. Internal transcribed spacer-mediated phylogenetic analysis revealed that M. oryzae and related species are classified into four groups primarily including isolates from rice, crabgrass, millet and tall fescue. Based on pathogenicity assays, M. oryzae and related species can infect different Poaceae hosts and move among hosts, suggesting the potential for host shifting and host expansion in nature. These results provide important information on the diversification of M. oryzae and related species with a broad range of Poaceae as hosts in crop fields.