Research on Ginseng Diseases in Korea

인삼 병 연구의 과거와 현재

From the early 1,100 to 1,900, ginseng cultivation seemed to be practiced with management of the diseases which were, in general, referred to a "disaster" at that time. Farmers had individually developed their own methods to manage the disaster with a try and error from generations to generations. It was not determined until 1909, however, that plant pathogens as a new concept was involved in the disaster and thirteen ginseng diseases were reported in Korea by Japanese plant pathologists. The intensive researches have been carried out from 1978 when Korea Ginseng and Tobacco Research Institute was established. Among the ginseng diseases reported in ginseng growing countries, Altemaria Panax, Eotrytis sp., Cylindrocarpon destmctans, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, Pythium app. Phytophthora cactomm, Sclerotinia sp., Sclerotium rolfsii, and root rot caused by nitylenchus destructor have been observed in Korea and the appropriate control methods for the major diseases were developed. However, the other nine diseases reported by former researchers have not been confirmed for their pathogenicities and/or occurrences on ginseng yetinseng yet.