우리나라 작물육종 성과와 발전 방안

Achievements and Outlook of Crop Breeding in Korea

Crop breeding is the genetic improvement of crops for human benefit. In Korea, crop breeding by hybridization was initiated in the early 1900s. Since the development of the first rice variety ‘Namseon 1’ in 1932, a series of great achievements have been made in most of the crops. Of these, the development of ‘Tongil’ rice, which brought self-sufficiency of the staple food due to its high productivity, was a monumental achievement in Korea’s crop breeding history. Laws for Variety Protection and Seed Industry were established as of June 2013. Until 2018, a total of 7,644 crop varieties were registered for protection in the national variety list that is managed by the Korea Seed and Variety Service. Some Research/Development (R/D) programs for promoting crop breeding studies have been implemented with governmental support. However, domestic seed markets have stagnated for years because of reduced cropping area. Considering the fact that international seed market size has increased at an annual rate of more than 7%, seed export is regarded as a breakthrough measure for the expansion of the Korean seed industry. In order to obtain a competitive power in international seed markets, the Korean seed industry sector should be reinforced with manpower training, R/D investment, an international marketing system, and governmental support. More details are discussed.