South Korea has experienced a tremendous development in recent years. Wages have gone up from a meagre $ 100 in the 60s to a current average income of $ 30,000 per year. Agriculture in particular has received a boost in recent times, enabling the country to compete with foreign nations like Thailand and Vietnam. One of the sectors undergoing a positive boom is the greenhouse cultivation of peppers.
In the early years of Korean pepper cultivation greenhouses were all imported from the Netherlands. Now, more and more people switch to plastic. Use is made of several layers in order to isolate crops. In any given greenhouse, there are two or three screens for insulation in winter and shading in summer. Most gardens are oil-fired and heated with the familiar pipe-rail system. As natural gas is lacking, a CHP is not an option. However, growers increasingly opt for heat exchangers with heat storage in aquifers. Geothermal heat is also a growing ambition.
Pepper promotion on www.paprika.or.kr
Enza Zaden has had a strong representation in the country from the beginning. Direct contact is impossible because of the language. Therefore, Enza Zaden is represented by a strong distributor offering advice and assistance to the growers. The flexibility of the Enza Zaden varieties is always appreciated, causing varieties to lead the market for 15 years. Popular varieties include Special, Fiesta, Scirocco and Atalante.
Source: Pepper News, Enza Zaden