In his New Year’s message, Minister Kim Hyeon-soo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) said, “Exporting agro-food products and agricultural technology will be combined into the brand K-agriculture’ down the road.”
Minister Kim added, “Foreign consumers buying Korean agro-food items is not the be all and end all. Smart farms producing Korean agro-food items are undergoing stringent quality management on top of operating advanced technologies will be associated. We’ll change this into ‘Korea Premium’ again and build a virtuous cycle of letting them keep on buying Korean agro-food items.”
Looking back at last year, Minister Kim said despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, the nation topped $10 billion in agro-food exports, a new record.
“K-agriculture is creating a new variety of hallyu (Korean Wave) beyond K-food. Homegrown strawberries and grapes have now become premium products, considered reliable at top restaurants and food markets in Chinese and Southeast Asian markets,” Minister Kim said.
The government closely looked into the hurdles for all stages of exporting these products, ranging from R&D to selling to making Korean agro-food item into premium ones.
Specialized farming zones have been nurtured using stringent quality management to develop varieties tailored to meet local tastes, the minister said.
As exports were disrupted due to the global logistics quagmire, the crisis was overcome by persuading Korean airliners and shipping companies, including Korean Air and HMM, to operate chartered flights and ships, and Korean food booths opened on online shopping malls instead of conducting local publicity activities and online negotiations with foreign buyers were supported, he said.
Minister Kim Hyeon-soo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) lends an ear to strawberry growers at a farm in Nonsan, Chungcheongnam-do, on Jan. 11.
MAFRA Minister Kim Hyeon-soo tours the Naju livestock cooperative market in Naju, Jeollanam-do, to look into livestock prices and the supply-demand situation on Jan. 18.
Raising Korea’s standing abroad is not only related to K-food. A Korean-style smart farm was dedicated in a pilot project in Almaty, Kazakhstan, last year.
Kazakhstan’s agriculture minister called it a first step in the agricultural sector, particularly in agricultural science.
The project had an effect of killing three birds with one stone by contributing to stabilizing the local food industry and raising Korea’s national standing.
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