韓國 水稻育種의 最近의 進步

Recent Advancement in Rice Breeding in Korea

It is not clear yet when rice farming was introduced in Korea. However, there are some historical books which described rice farming in the ancient days. Byeonjinjo of Wiseo in Samgug-ji reported that the five staple corps including rice should be planted in fertile soils. In the first chapter of Baeg-je Bongi of the History of the Three Kingdoms, it was stated that rice farming in the southern counties and towns started from the end of February in lunar calendar in the sixth year of King Daru (A.C. 33). Archeologists say that the carbonized rice grains which was recently discovered from a habitation cave made in the prehistoric age; in Heum-am ri, Jeom-dung myeon, Yeo-ju gun, Gyeonggi do, traced back to about the 10th to the 12th century B.C. These evidences imply that rice has been grown since 3,000 years ago in Korea. According to the History of the Three Kingdoms, rice was extensively disseminated in the Kingdom of Baeg-je. The book also described that there were some water reservoirs such as Eui-rim Ji and Byeoggol Je. These records indicate that rice farming was quite popular in the Three Kingdoms. In the Kingdom of Lee, rice farming made a considerable progress. Rice has become an important cearal among Koreans for many many centuries. Therefore, the first priority has been given to rice production and supply in the Korean agricultural policies. It is certain that an integrated approach which covers all the infrastructures and the farming techniques, should be implemented in order to increase rice productivity. This is true not only in present days but also in ancient days. The most practical technology for increased rice production is a selection of the most suitable varieties to given cultural environments. An emphasis has been given to the development of high-yielding varieties resistant to blast and stripe virus diseases, and to lodging in rice breeding.. These factors greatly affected rice productivity per unit area. A number of varieties have been developed and disseminated to rice farmers. It was recognized that there was no promising Japonica variety from which blast-resistant gene could be introduced to new varieties. Accordingly, Indica varieties have been extensively utilized as resistant gene sources for blast disease in Korea as well as in other rice growing countries. It was a general tendency that blast-resistant genes linked with some undesirable characteristics. This made it very difficult to develop high-yielding and blast-resistant rice varieties. In 1965, a hybridization program between Indica and Japonica varieties was implemented in order to develop new, high-yielding rice variety, Tongil which was quite different in agronomic characteristics from the conventional varieties. This short-statured variety has been extensively disseminated to the farmers since then. Rice farmers have also introduced much advanced farming technology for maximizing this variety’s yield potential. At last, in 1974 we produced a total of 4,445 thousand metric tons of rice and this was sufficient enough to meet the national demand. Through continuous varietal improvement and dissemination program, rice produciton increased year and surpassed the increased national demand. Furthermore, in 1977 our rice production reached as much as 6,006 thousand metric tons, increasing more than 1,561 thousand metric tons than that of 1974. In other words, the Green Revolution was definitely achieved in Korea. I would like to summarize some of the important progresses made in the Korean rice breeding as follows: 1. Outline of rice breeding by the 1960’s a. Varietal changes i) About 3,000 native rice varieties had been grown by 1910. ii) These native varieties were generally awned, early, less tillering, tall, susceptible to lodging, and blast disease, resistant to drought, more in grains per panicle, and shorter in maturing days, and higher in germinability under moisture stress soil conditions. iii) Since 1906 when the