On December 16, KoAT announced its plans to “lay the groundwork” for the dissemination of new crop varieties through the use of disease-free seedlings produced via tissue culture techniques.

This innovative method allows for the propagation of pest- and disease-free plant material in a sterile environment, facilitating the mass production of high-quality seedlings in a comparatively short timeframe.

Boosting Crop Quality and Stability

The agency emphasized that this technology is particularly advantageous for crops that are propagated vegetatively from stems or roots rather than seeds, highlighting its crucial role in stabilizing cultivation and enhancing crop quality.

Throughout this year, KoAT successfully supplied 1.82 million disease-free seedlings across 21 varieties of eight crops, which include sweet potatoes, medicinal plants, and apple rootstocks. This marks a 3.4% increase from the previous year, demonstrating a growing acceptance of tissue culture-based planting materials by farmers.

Future Plans for Seedling Production

Looking ahead, KoAT aims to produce and distribute 1.85 million disease-free seedlings in 2026. This includes plans for 900,000 sweet potato plants, 870,000 medicinal crop plants, and 80,000 fruit plants.

The agency intends to strengthen the connection between demonstration trials and commercial rollout, ensuring that new varieties become available to farmers more swiftly. President Ahn Ho-geun commented, “The distribution of tissue culture-based disease-free seedlings is a critical method for accelerating the field establishment of domestically developed new varieties… We are committed to providing support that boosts farm income and enhances the competitiveness of the seed industry.”

Accelerating Seed Variety Production

KoAT is committed to steadily producing and supplying disease-free seedlings, focusing on varieties developed by the Rural Development Administration. This initiative aims to minimize cultivation risks and enhance overall production for farmers.

A major focus area for KoAT is sweet potato crop production, utilizing a proactive propagation system designed to expedite the market entry of new varieties. The agency collaborates with breeding institutions to increase the multiplication of disease-free seedlings even before formal registration occurs, enabling distribution to advance by more than a year.

For example, a new sweet potato variety developed by the National Institute of Crop Science, Mokpo-127, is set to be distributed by 2027.

Focus on Fruits and Medicinal Crops

Additionally, KoAT is placing a strong emphasis on fruit production, specifically apple rootstocks, to ensure long-term productivity in orchards. The agency is striving to maintain a stable production and supply of disease-free seedlings in this category.

Moreover, KoAT is expanding tissue culture-based propagation within medicinal crops. Among the varieties currently undergoing their first year of demonstration cultivation are licorice varieties Wongam and Dagam. Atractylodes varieties Wipung and Wigang are also being mass-produced using tissue culture techniques.

Atractylodes is projected to enter demonstration trials by 2026, with full-scale distribution to follow based on performance evaluations.