Baengnyeongdo Island, which belongs to Ongjin-gun, Incheon, is an island in the northernmost part of the West Sea in South Korea. Baengnyeong Island is the 15th largest island in Korea and covers an area of 51 km2. The Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC) investigated the possibility of growing ginseng on Baengnyeong Island in 1996. In 1997, thanks to the support of cultivation costs from Ongjin-gun, the first ginseng seedbed was built on Baengnyeong Island. In 1999, the seedlings were transplanted to a permanent field under a contract with KGC. In 2003, the first six-year-old ginseng harvest was performed, and KGC purchased all production according to the contract. Since then, KGC has signed on to grow ginseng until 2012 and purchased six-year-old ginseng until the fall of 2016. Since 2014, the GimpoPaju Ginseng Agricultural Cooperative Association has signed a ginseng production contract. According to a survey of nine 6-year-old ginseng fields (total 5,961 units) on Baengnyeong Island, the top five with good growth had a survival rate of 42.6 to 68%, and the bottom four with poor growth had an extremely low survival rate of 11.1 to 21.3%. The four fields with low survival rates were where hot peppers were planted before ginseng cultivation. It is believed that the excess nitrogen remaining in the soil due to the treatment of compost or manure during pepper cultivation causes ginseng roots to rot. The average incidence of Alternaria blight was 8.6%. Six six-year-old ginseng gardens were low at 1.1 to 4.7%, while the other three were high at 16.7 to 20.9%. It is assumed that the reason for the low survival rate and high incidence of Alternaria blight is a rain-leaking shield. Farmers used rain-leaking shields because the precipitation on Baengnyeong Island was smaller than on land. One field showed 3% of leaves with yellowish brown spots, a symptom of physiological disturbance of the leaf, which is presumed to be due to the excessive presence of iron in the soil. To increase the production of ginseng on Baengnyeong Island, it is necessary to develop a suitable ginseng cultivation method for the island, such as strengthening the field management based on the results of a scientific study of soil, using rain-resistant shading, and installing drip irrigation facilities. I hope that ginseng will become a new driving force for the development of Baengnyeong Island, allowing ginseng products and food to thrive in the beautiful natural environment of the island.

Keywords: Panax ginseng, Baengnyeongdo Island, Korean ginseng, Cultivation of ginseng