A trend analysis of the cultivation status of medicinal crop farmers in Korea

The aims of this study were to classify the cultivation status of medicinal crop farmers and to obtain basic data on domestic medicinal crops. To this end, 406 medicinal crop farmers participating in farming education programs in 14 cities and counties were surveyed over 10 months. The results were as follows. First, the biggest difficulty farmers faced in the overall production of medicinal crops was a lack of cultivation skills. Second, in a detailed inquiry about each difficulty item, the most difficult problems were injury by continuous cropping of root-using crops, shortage of specific farm machinery, uncertain market prices, and lack of knowledge about pest control or the positive list system (PLS). Third, the profitability of medicinal crops increased with career experience. Among the farmers who earned profits, requests for education and technical guidance were the most important factors for profitability. Fourth, the results of the analysis suggest that to achieve stable cultivation of medicinal crops, the following items need to be addressed: development and supply of basic cultivation technologies, climate response, registration of pest control pesticides, a solution to the injury by continuous cropping, and contracting cultivation expansion. Additionally, to improve profitability, it is necessary to create conditions that enable the same crops to grow for a long time in one region.