Improved Management of Grape Orchards in Korea
Selecting for highest quality fruit always involves some sacrifice of quantity. Two groups of grape farmers in Korea have found innovative ways of achieving this. Members do not thin or harvest their own fruit, but those of their neighbours!
Achieving High Quality on Small Farms
In most Asian countries, agriculture is carried out on a large number of small farms. This causes problems in marketing. A large number of small shipments means high marketing costs. It also makes produce very difficult to standarize. For this reason, organizing farmers into groups is generally a priority in marketing policy.
Grape Producers' Groups in Korea
Successful farmers groups have been started in Korea and a number of other Asian countries. They carry out joint farm operations, including pest and disease control, harvesting and marketing. Two groups of grape producers belonging to the Yipjang Agricultural Cooperative in central Korea are enjoying higher prices for their grapes than any other farming groups. This is because of an original method they have found to achieve strict grading standards.
New Ways to Achieve High Quality
All farmers in the groups carry out important operations such as pruning, control of pests and diseases, and thinning according to the annual farming plan. In grape farming, thinning is very important in determining high quality, but at the same time it does place a limit on quantity. Farmers are often reluctant to thin grape flowers too heavily, for fear that the vines will not bear much fruit.
To ensure high quality and fair treatment, growers in these two groups have set up special rules. The owners of the vineyards are not allowed to thin their own vines. Instead, they carry out this work on the vines of other members of the group.
The same applies when the grapes are harvested. Members go to each others' orchards, harvest the grapes, and take them to an assembly station for packaging. Experienced female farmers select and grade the grapes according to strict standards. The members share a single brand name for all their grapes. This brand name has won a good name for quality, and high prices are paid for the grapes bearing it.
These two farming groups have much the same system of production as other groups. They have won brand name recognition and economic success, not by technical innovation, but by finding a better way of organizing their work.
Index of Images
Figure 1 First Seedling Planted in the Demonstration Orchard
