Using radioactive ray-mutation technology; 1st year cultivation under review

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (President: Jung Youn-ho) said, on September 27, that it had developed a new kenaf breed dubbed "Jangdae," which grows very well and whose seeds can be collected domestically, by using a radioactive ray-mutation breeding technique.

Researchers led by Dr. Kang Shi-yong, in the radioactive ray-mutation breeding research team at the institute's Jeongeup Advanced Radiation Technology Institute, exposed kenaf collected from the Jinju region from 2003 to gamma rays and developed the new breed "Jangdae," which grows better than the original breed and whose seeds can be collected in Korean climate.

Kenaf is an annual grass plant originating in West Africa and is one of the world's top three fiber plants. It is known as a botanical resource for various bio materials. Growing fast and consuming large volumes of carbon dioxide, the plant is also an eco-friendly industrial material for high-end paper, eco-friendly wall paper, construction boards, bio plastic, automobile frames and functional clothing.?

Jangdae has been developed with research funds from the Life Industry Technology Development Program, under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and is being cultivated for demonstration at the pilot breeding farm at the Jeongeup Advanced Radiation Technology Institute. The application to register Jangdae for protection as a new breed has been completed, and first year cultivation review is underway at the pilot farming site at the Korea Seed and Variety Service. Tests have also been conducted to review the natural growing and anthesis trends under a mass cultivation environment in the Saemangeum reclaimed area in Gimje, North Jeolla Province.

In Korea, research was conducted on pilot cultivation and the use kenaf in the production of sags that would replace rice thatch sags as containing grains in the 1960s, but the study was halted following the introduction of chemical sags in the early 1970s. Recently, amid growing interest in products sourced from kenaf, related research has been conducted sporadically, but researchers have had difficulties due to lack of a domestic breed.

Imported kenaf grows relatively well in the weather conditions in Korea and yields a high bio mass. Because the foreign breed only blooms for anthesis in a tropical climate, however, it has been impossible to procure seeds, and thus it was difficult to re-cultivate the plant domestically.??

The domestic development of Jangdae has made it possible to gather seeds and re-cultivate the species in the climatic conditions in Korea, opening up the possibility for kenaf's wide use as an eco-friendly industrial and functional material. Also, domestic development of the breed also reduces the expenses associated with seed license royalties and helps increase income for farming households, while allowing Korea to generate income through its export to foreign countries.

Once Jangdae is registered as a new breed, KAERI will seek the mass production and introduction of the new breed in Korea. Trial cultivation is underway at the pilot farming site in the Saemangeum Reclamation Area in Gimje in collaboration with the Jeollabuk-do Agricultural Research & Extension Service. A plan has been set up for the mass cultivation of the breed, in cooperation with farming cooperatives, next year.

Dr. Kang said, "We will continue developing additional kenaf breeds that are suitable for cultivation in Korea and construct a mass production system."

Lim Eun-jeong, Hello DD
watercurve@daum.net

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