고부가가치 산업화를 위한 인삼산업 발전 전략

Abstract

인삼은 우리나라를 대표하는 특산품일 뿐 아니라 소비자의 건강과 웰빙에 대한 관심 고조로 수요가 증대하는 등 성장 가능성이 높은 고부가가치 품목으로 각광을 받아왔다. 또한, 인삼은 고려삼에 대한 세계적인 인지도로 1억 달러 이상을 수출하는 수출효자 품목이기도 하다. 그러나 최근 재배적지의 부족 문제, 인건비 상승으로 인한 경영여건 악화, 시장개방화 가속화 등으로 지속적인 성장을 하던 인삼산업이 위축되면서 향후 국내 원료삼 공급 부족이 우려되고 있다.

더욱이 인삼산업은 유통부문에서도 복잡한 유통구조와 가격 형성의 불공정성 문제가 대두되고 있으며, 소비자의 수삼 및 인삼제품에 대한 안전성 우려가 급증하고 있는 실정이다. 이 때문에 본 연구는 인삼산업을 둘러싸고 급변하는 국내외적 환경하에서 국내 인삼산업의 실태와 현안을 심층적으로 분석하고, 개선 과제를 도출함으로써 앞으로도 인삼산업이 고부가가치산업으로 발전할 수 있는 전략을 제시하고자 수행되었다.

Research Background Ginseng is highly recognized around the world as a specialty product in Korea. Korea has secured and kept its commanding position as the birthplace of ginseng because of the accumulated technology for cultivation and processing of ginseng, superior efficacy of ginseng, and international credibility and reputation. Since the end of 2000, however, the environment of the domestic ginseng industry has been changing rapidly in terms of its demand, production, distribution, and trade. Nevertheless, the ginseng industry in Korea has not dealt with the changes effectively. In particular, as newly cultivated areas have declined since 2009, there has been growing concern about the collapse of infrastructure of domestic ginseng industry. Therefore, the current status of ginseng industry should be analyzed in depth, and at the same time, the improvement issues should be addressed to prepare for the long-term development of the industry.

Research Method In order to understand the current status and condition, and the basic statistical data regarding the ginseng industry, this study analyzed the administrative data of local government and the statistical data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Rural Development Administration, local governments of main producing places, and National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Symposiums with experts in ginseng were hosted to determine the research contents and direction. A total of 490 farmers were surveyed to investigate their current management conditions and difficulties. an Moreover, online survey of 1,000 consumers nationwide was conducted to identify their purchasing and consumption patterns and their perspectives on the ginseng industry and products. In order to investigate the problems of the ginseng industry, the officials were interviewed through business trips to domestic areas. Field trips to China and Hongkong were carried out in preparation for the FTA and for the understanding of export markets.

Research Results and Discussion The current issues and challenges in each sector of the ginseng industry were drawn from the surveys and analysis of domestic ginseng industry. Based on the results, the development strategies were suggested. The development strategies to increase the competitiveness of the domestic ginseng industry were divided into four areas including cultivation/production, management, distribution of fresh ginseng and products, and export. With regard to the cultivation/production area, it is required to reinforce the institutional support for shortening the dormancy period of the existing farmland and for securing first planted fields. In order to shorten the dormancy period of the existing farmland, the active support from the government is needed, such as the use of soil sterilization and soil fumigants. The first planted fields should be secured by developing hills and marginal farms of main producing places. In order to secure professional workforce constantly, the personalized support for new participants and farming successors is required. To improve the management of ginseng farmers, the rationalization of purchase price of ginseng is needed. For example, for the products cultivated under the non-contract cultivation, the fair and transparent pricing system which reflects the supply and demand should be established. Moreover, in order to reduce the production cost for cultivating ginseng, the labor-intensive cultivation process should be replaced with mechanization process to increase productivity. For the improvement of fresh ginseng distribution, it is required not only to secure the transparency, fairness, and openness of information for the fresh ginseng trade, but also to introduce and operate diverse transaction systems. The efficiency of price formation and product distribution should also be enhanced. In order to establish the reliability of ginseng product distribution, it is required to open the relevant information regarding the standardization of products and to establish the systems for the safety assurance and certification. At the same time, small and medium processing companies and 12 ginseng cooperatives should be organized and cooperate with one another first. For the export and in preparation for liberalization of ginseng, first of all, the representative brands for export by the producer organizations, based on young ginseng, should be intensively developed and the differentiated strategies should be established as well. In addition, the role of the government should be strengthened to develop and expand the export markets for ginseng. It is also required to use the ongoing FTA between Korea and China strategically and to reach the reasonable conclusion.

Researchers: Chang-Gon Jeon E-mail address: cgjeon@krei.re.kr