Conventional, Partially Converted and Environmentally Friendly Farming in South Korea: Profitability and Factors Affecting Farmers’ Choice

Abstract

While organic farming is well established in Europe a nd USA, it is still catching up in Asian countries. The government of South Korea has implemented environmentally friendly farming that encompasses organic farming. Despite the promotion of environmentally friendly farming, it still has a low share in South Korea and partially converted farming has emerged in some districts of South Korea. However, the partially converted farming has not yet been investigated by the government. Thus, our study implemented a financial analysis to compare the annual costs and net returns of conventional, partially converted and environmentally friendly farming in Gangwon Province. The result showed that environmentally friendly farming was more profitable with respect to farm net returns. To find out the factors affecting the adoption of environmentally friendly farming, multinomial logistic regression was implemented. The findings revealed that education and subsidy positively and significantly influenced the probability of farmers' choice on partially converted and environmentally friendly farming. Farm size had a negative and significant relationship with only environmentally friendly farming. This study will contribute to future policy establishment for sustainable agriculture as recommended by improving the quality of fertilizers, suggesting the additional investigation associated with partially converted farmers.

Do Consumers of Environmentally Friendly Farming Products in Downstream Areas Have a WTP for Water Quality Protection in Upstream Areas?

“…This lake is an important source of drinking water to downstream metropolitan areas [1]. The maintenance of clean water quality in the upstream areas of this lake has been one of the most critical issues for several years to ensure healthy aquatic ecosystem services which provide many benefits to the society.…”

“…However, despite the continued efforts to promote EFF, the proportion of conversion to EFF by upstream farmers has been low [1]. The main reason is that conversion to EFF would lead to loss of income for upstream farmers.…”

Farmers’ and Consumers’ Preferences for Drinking Water Quality Improvement through Land Management Practices: The Case Study of the Soyang Watershed in South Korea

“…The watershed was used as a key drinking water source for the downstream area, Seoul, and metropolitan areas in South Korea. The Seoul had a high population density, consisting of 48.3% of the total population in South Korea [9].…”

“…The watershed was used as a key drinking water source for the downstream area, Seoul, and metropolitan areas in South Korea. The Seoul had a high population density, consisting of 48.3% of the total population in South Korea [9]. In Gangwon Province, there were three districts, namely, Hongcheon-gun, Inje-gun, and Yanggu-gun, which were the major regions where most of the farmers did intensive farming activities in the mountainous areas, which affected the water quality.…”

“…The Soyang Lake is the deepest artificial reservoir in South Korea [9]. The Lake has a considerable significance as it is a major drinking water source for the downstream area, especially the capital city of South Korea.…”