Agspec Group growing into the South Korean market

South Korea has grown from rural society into a highly industrialised nation with strong electronics and mechanical industries; however, a strong demand for high-quality traditional foods remains.?

Although the agricultural industry contributed only 1.76% of gross domestic product in 2020, many people have a strong affinity and connection to traditional foods. These foods cover a wide variety of local vegetables and fruits, as well as rice, which is grown on 40% of the cultivated area.

Mr Andrew Glynn, Agspec Group Managing Director, says, “What we like about the Korean market is the diversity of tree fruit crops, and a quality vegetable segment. Koreans have a very high per capita consumption of vegetables. Much of the vegetable production is in plastic greenhouses, following the so-called ‘white revolution’ during 1980’s and 1990’s. You can’t travel in Korea without seeing the rows of white poly houses.”

Strawberries growing in South Korea’s distinctive white poly houses (above).

Agspec and Mr Glynn worked with a few local distributors for many years, and took the next step to develop directly into the market in 2019, when Agspec established its South Korean office. Since then, Agspec Group has been focussed on registering and testing products, as well as forming partnerships with local businesses and growers.

Agspec’s plant nutrition products and bioactivators are well-suited to South Korea’s intensive and high-input horticultural systems. With a landmass of 100,210 km2, and only around 17% of this being used for cultivation, improving soil fertility and increasing crop productivity is a high priority.?

Bioactivators have particular potential in this area, as they act within the plant to stimulate or enhance traits such as crop quality, nutrient use efficiency, and stress tolerance naturally.

Agspec has a growing range of bioactivators, including Martello with PSI? Technology, developed by Brandon Bioscience. Martello could benefit high-intensity cropping systems like those in South Korea by improving crop quality and reducing heat stress by stimulating the accumulation of stress protective proteins and metabolites within the plant. Martello, and other emerging bioactivators from Brandon Bioscience, are also registered for use on organic crops.

Plant nutrition products such as RapiSol? micronutrient fertiliser are also promising in this area. RapiSol? was developed by Agspec with a unique EDTA formula, one of the strongest and most stable true bonds used in commercial agriculture due to its multidentate ligand which can bind to metal ions. This allows RapiSol? to be highly compatible with 2,4-D amine, MCPA, and esters, which are used in most pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

EDTA technology present in RapiSol? works by chelating metal ions (above).

Agspec is continuing to develop, test, and register a range of products for use in South Korea and develop connections with local growers and businesses.

?For more information on Agspec’s work in the South Korean market, please contact [email protected]. Our product range, including Martello and RapiSol?, can be found on our website at https://www.agspec.net/korea/.