Mr. Paik Sae-ki and Mr. Paik Chun Hyun, the family business owner & operator of the farm in Buyeo, Chungchung nam-do

For more than two decades, Mr. Paik Sae-ki and Mr. Paik Chun Hyun (photo), father and son, have been farming tomatoes.
Since last winter, they had been planting “mini-top”, new jujube tomatoes seed developed by ‘The KIBAN’ and very much satisfied with the product and even replacing the conventional seeds.

​Mr. Paik Sae-ki, the owner of the farm said “It is very unusual and not easy to replace seed that planted for a long time, but as soon as I saw new seed from The KIBAN, I felt there must be ‘something’ with the product, and I conducted some tests on my own and the result was fascinating. I eventually changed my mind toward new seed.

Also the son, Mr. Paik Cheon-hyun, who started farming after learning from his father, is now working on tomato farming separately as well.

Mr. Paik, farming only tomato at a size of 17,190㎡ (5,200 pyeong), said that many farmers continue their business with tomatoes because the Sae-do region is very famous for the tomato mainland in South Korea.
Due to the cultivated varieties have been also changed according to consumer demand that from recent six to seven years ago the main product is shifting from ‘Round tomatoes’ to ‘Jujube tomatoes’
Mr. Paik has been making double crop for tomato, however he recently has experienced some difficulties due to the high temperature of global warming, but the community and Mr. Paik are working tighter for solving various problems through know-how and experience of precious knowledge gained through the exchange of information from The KIBAN company and Mr. Lee Hang gu, the CEO of Chungdae Pesticide Co., Ltd., in Sedo Province.
 

“Jujube tomatoes”,New Seed product, from The KIBAN, co. ltd.

​Recognized as 「A leading farmhouse」 in Sae-do, Kangkyung, Chungchung nam-do 

"Twenty years ago, there was no farming house frame steel pipe, so we made it with bamboo tree and cover it with rice straw to maintain warm temperature."
In Sae-do region, according to Mr. Lee Hang-gu, CEO of Chungdae Pesticide Co., Ltd., Mr. Paik’s farm considered to be a leading tomato farm with low failure rate in terms of quantity, quality, taste, price and etc., it certainly belongs to the leading axis in all aspects.

Since Mr. Paik was a child, after school, he threw a backpack and directly went to his father's Tomato House. He did not even have any power switch, thus he developed & processed everything manually. He now controls the temperature automatically and makes watering facilities and management technology much easier. If you are willing to learn about farming, you can say that it is possible to do a lot of new farming with the help of agricultural company like ‘The KIBAN’.

GAP certified tomato box, the name of his father, Paik se-Ki representative is printed​

“Now I can see how much you are good at farming by just looking” said Mr. Paik, stated that currently around two hundred households in the Sae-do area are working on tomato farming
Farming houses that were lost during the 「4 major rivers renovation project」(Nat’l project) were more than 25%, and they were rewarded after the project and joined Sae-do area and started more tomato farms.

Sae-do area, is a ‘cross section’ where the Iksan border, Jeonbuk and Nonsan are gathered together, considered to be suitable region for agriculture due to moderate climate. Also location is attracted to the surrounding area as a center. In the meantime, technically, ‘agricultural know-how’ is concentrated, and there are many excellent farmers.

Mr. Paik said, "We have been doing a lot of assistive projects in the country nowadays, and now our facilities are being modernized, so we feel very much confident that quality is improved in other regions as well." "We will improve the quality competitiveness of Sae-do region tomatoes and we are paying more attention to new varieties of seeds.”

‘Mini Top’, the product name of Jujube tomato seed, from ‘The KIBAN’

There are too many kinds of tomato seeds and consumers are looking for higher quality more and more, so we must study everyday cultivation methods and diseases in all cases.
"It is very hard to find a private farmhouse that has received GAP certification like Mr. Paik’s farming house said Kim Yi-koo, the head officer of the Chung-cheong branch of The KIBAN co ltd. "In case of developing a new variety of crops, I think these farmers(Mr. Paik’s) could be good example."

Mr. Paik Chun-hyun, representative of the farm said, "Thanks to my father, I was able to catch up to some extent," but "Now I can secure the market even if there is no stable market price(even if the market price fluctuates), I will study more the seeds from ‘The KIBAN’ company and help them to be rooted well in Sae-do region & community.” and he showed a great smile.

Lee Tae-ho reporter, arrisr2@gmail.com

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