○ GARES selects eco-friendly garlic variety suitable for Gyeonggi Province
– Following research on eco-friendly garlic varieties for institutional food services in Gyeonggi Province, GARES selected Hongsan as a highly marketable and productive variety.

On August 8, the Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services (GARES) announced that it had selected Hongsan, an eco-friendly and productive garlic variety, for institutional food services in Gyeonggi Province.

The garlic cultivation area and production volume in Gyeonggi Province increased from 845 hectares and 5,918 tonnes in 2017 to 1,020 hectares and 11,087 tonnes in 2020, equating to an 87% year-on-year increase in production. In 2020, 103 hectares of land was certified for eco-friendly garlic farms and 178 farms produced eco-friendly garlic for school meal services.

Eco-friendly garlic for school meal services commands relatively high prices, so the number of garlic farms has been rapidly increasing. However, these garlic farms have been applying varieties and cultivation techniques suitable for southern regions. The selection of an eco-friendly garlic variety suitable for Gyeonggi Province – as well as the development of pest control measures and an eco-friendly garlic cultivation manual – was imperative.

GARES and the Gyeonggi-do Federation of Eco-friendly Agriculture Farmers undertook research from last year to identify a suitable eco-friendly garlic variety. Consequently, Hongsan was selected due to its outstanding marketability and yields.

Hongsan garlic, developed by the Rural Development Administration, was registered as a garlic variety in 2016. Hongsan can be cultivated in both warm and cool regions throughout the country. The cloves of Hongsan garlic are heavier and larger than those of Daeseo garlic, the former major cultivation variety of Gyeonggi Province. Moreover, Hongsan garlic is highly resistant to sheath rot, white rot, and other pathogens.

After being cultivated in Gyeonggi Province, it was found that the clove marketability of Hongsan garlic increased 33.4% compared to that of Daeseo garlic. In addition, Hongsan garlic is high in allicin (a compound giving garlic its unique odor and efficacy), as well as polyphenols and flavonoids, and has outstanding storability.

GARES is developing eco-friendly pest control measures to counter white rot, rust, onion thrips and bradysia agrestis. After summarizing its research next year, GARES will develop and distribute the Gyeonggi Eco-Friendly Garlic Cultivation Manual to eco-friendly farms.

Lee Yeong-sun, Director of the GARES Environmental Agricultural Research Division, said, “I hope that Hongsan garlic, the newly selected garlic variety suitable for eco-friendly cultivation in Gyeonggi Province, contributes to a foundation for eco-friendly institutional food services and the stable production of eco-friendly agricultural products. We will develop and apply an eco-friendly cultivation manual to a wider range of major crops cultivated in Gyeonggi Province.”