Background: Root diseases caused by Cylindrocarpon destructans and Fusarium solani decrease the yield and quality of ginseng. Cylindrocarpon root rot is a major disease caused by replant failure in ginseng fields. Methods and Results: Solarization of infested greenhouse soil was carried out during the summer season after applying green manure (Sudan grass) and Calcium Cyanamide (CC) on the soil. Mycelium and conidia of C. destructans died at 40℃ after 15 h, but they did not die at 35℃ after 15 h. They also died after keeping the soil at 40℃ for 2 h daily for 9 days, and at 45℃ for 8 days, but they did not die at 38℃ for 9 days. Maximum soil temperature was 55.4℃ at 5 ㎝ depth, 48.7℃ at 10 ㎝, 44.7℃ at 15 ㎝, 42.5℃ at 20 ㎝, and 31.9℃ at 30 ㎝ by incorporating green manure into the soil and using solarization. Solarization using green manure mixed with CC was the most effective in decreasing soil-borne pathogens of 2-year-old ginseng. However, the addition of CC decreased the root weight due to the increase in EC and NO3-N. Conclusions: Soil disinfection using green manure and solarization in a greenhouse environment was effective in inhibiting root rot, however, it did not completely kill the soil-borne pathogens.

Background : Ginseng is mainly grown as a break crop in paddy fields after rice has been cultured for approximately 4 - 5 years, because it reduces the negative effects of continuous rice cropping. However, physiological disorders, such as leaf discoloration, occur in ginseng grown in paddy fields with poor drainage and excessive levels of inorganic components. Methods and Results : This study investigated the effect of ridge height on the growth characteristics and yield of 6 year old Panax ginseng. Ridge height was varied by making 20, 30, and 40 ㎝ high ridges in a pooly drained paddy field. Soil moisture content decreased, while electrical conductivity (EC) as the ridge height increased. The NO3, K, Ca, Mg, and Na levels also rose as ridge height increased, but organic matter and P2O4 levels did not. The leaf discoloration ratio rose as the ridge height increased, and root yield reached a peak when the ridge height was 30 ㎝. Conclusion : A ridge height of 30 ㎝ in poorly drained paddy field improved ginseng growth by reducing leaf discoloration and increasing root survival, owing to more suitable soil moisture and EC levels.

In this paper, we propose an image-based measurement method of structure dynamic characteristics to assess the damage of structure in a more cost-effective way than traditional structure health monitoring system.

To study the effect of crop rotation on the control of ginseng root rot, growth characteristics and root rot ratioof 2-year-old ginseng was investigated after the crops of 18 species were cultured for one year in soil contaminated by thepathogen of root rot. Fusarium solani and Cylindrocarpon destructans were detected by 53.2% and 37.7%, respectively, frominfected root of 4-year-old ginseng cultivated in soil occurring the injury by continuous cropping. Content of NO3, Na, andP2O5 were distinctly changed, while content of pH, Ca, and Mg were slightly changed when whole plant of crops cultured forone year were buried in the ground. All of EC, NO3, P2O5, and K were distinctly increased in soil cultured sudangrass, pea-nut, soybean, sunnhemp, and pepper. All of EC, NO3, P2O5, and K among inorganic component showed negative effect onthe growth of ginseng when they were excessively applied on soil. The growth of ginseng was promoted in soil cultivatedperilla, sweet potato, sudangrass, and welsh onion, while suppressed in Hwanggi (Astragalus mongholicus), Deodeok(Codonopsis lanceolata) Doraji (Platycodon grandiflorum), Gamcho (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), Soybean. All of chicory, lettuce,radish, sunnhemp, and welsh onion had effective on the inhibition of ginseng root rot, while legume such as soybean,Hwanggi, Gamcho, peanut promoted the incidence of root rot. Though there were no significant correlation, NO3 showedpositive correlation, and Na showed negative correlation with the incidence of root rot.

In this study, the relationships between the wheat imports of South Korea and the climate of wheat production areas (the United States is selected as an example) during 1995-2014 are analyzed. While the wheat imports in South Korea have increased in the second half of the analysis period compared to the first half, wheat imports from the United States have decreased somewhat in the second half than the first half. The unit cost of wheat import from the United States is unstable in the second half due to the increasing tendency of unit cost of wheat imports since 2007 and the enhanced variability. Wheat yields of Kansas (winter wheat) and North Dakota (spring wheat) in the major wheat growing regions in the United States are affected by precipitation during growing period and high-temperature condition before harvest, respectively. The unit cost of wheat imports from the United States to South Korea was caused by the impact of fluctuations in precipitation of Kansas, rather than temperature condition of North Dakota.

In this study, we examine the relationship between climate change and food productivity using empirical econometric methods. The existing literature shows that natural hazard caused by climate change has a negative impact on food productivity since the natural disaster devastates farmers and food supply. The conventional study however considered only the correlation between food productivity change and climate condition such as optimum air temperature rather than the association between food productivity and climate change. Agricultural area, crop per unit area and crop productivity are known as the most important factors in food productivity. Thus, we explore the relationship between the three factors and climate change. We analyze the carbon dioxide concentration level in the atmosphere as a proxy for the climate change since the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects global temperature. We found that agricultural area, crop per unit area and crop productivity are negatively associated with climate change.

The extreme weather conditions negatively affect the traffic flow performance, and the change of traffic systems has significant impacts on the air pollutant emission. This study identifies the correlation between rainfall, traffic volume, travel speed and air pollution concentration (NO2 and PM10) in Seoul. We employed a path analysis using rainfall data from Korea Meteorological Administration and Seoul’s air quality and traffic monitoring data in July and August on 2014. It is found that the occurrence of rainfall decreases NO2 and PM10 concentration due to the higher washing effect, while rainfall increases NO2 and PM10 concentration via the changes in traffic volume and traffic speed. The analysis of the rainfall intensity reveals that the rainfall increases NO2 concentration due to the traffic volume increase and the traffic speed reduction if an hourly rainfall is more than 5mm. It is to note that the current model succeeds in identifying the relationship between weather conditions, traffic flow performance and air pollution in a unified and consistent framework, which can be used for better predicting the changes in air pollution concentration.

This study aims to show that the change of damages and damage areas caused by typhoon has an impact on South Korea using the typhoon track data and the data of damages caused by typhoon. This study analyzed the frequency of typhoon, damages and the distribution of damage by cities. The damages caused by typhoon sharply increased and typhoon scale is intensified after 1990s. The frequency of typhoon which has an impact on South Korea is concentrated in August and September. The frequency of typhoon is stable in August but increases in September. The typhoon which passed by the South sea and the Yellow sea damaged South Korea, and the frequency of typhoon which hits the south coastal increased. During the latter half of the period than the first half of the period in August and September, the damage area expands and damage scale grows ‘W’. The damage area of typhoon which hits the South coastal expands during the latter half of the period than the first half of the period. The damage area of typhoon which passed by the Yellow sea moved to the West coastal. The damage area of typhoon which passed by the East sea decreased.

Physiological disorders such as symptoms in leaf colored with brown spots are so many occurred in ginseng garden cultivated with paddy soil. This study was carried out to inhibit the symptoms of brown-colored leaf in 3-year-old ginseng by fertilizing calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] of 100 ~ 400 ㎏ per 10a on paddy soil before transplant of seedling. Soil pH was rapidly increased, while Fe was decreased in soil by the increase of application level of calcium hydroxide. Soil pH was increased from 4.53 to 6.18 when calcium hydroxide was fertilized at level of 100kg per 10a. The content of Fe in ginseng leaf was decreased more than the control by fertilizing calcium hydroxide in soil. Ratio of brown-colored leaf and plant height and leaf area were decreased by the increase of calcium hydroxide. Ratio of survived root and yield of root showed the peak at the application level of 100 ㎏ per 10a, and both of them were gradually decreased by the increase of calcium hydroxide. The decrease of missing plant rate above the application level of 200 ㎏ per 10a had a negative effect on the decrease of yield of root.

Change of weather disaster having occurred in Korea since 1960s was analyzed using newspaper articles recording objective facts and reflecting consciousness of the times. The analysis was carried out on 6 disasters: heavy rainfall, cold wave, heavy snowfall, typhoon, heat wave and drought. To focus on the events having great social impacts, articles were chosen among top articles on the front page and general page of the newspapers. Dong-A Daily News articles were sampled from 1960 to 2013, for 54 years. A total of 315 articles were analyzed, among which typhoon accounted for the largest proportion of 36%. Heavy rainfall, heavy snowfall, drought and cold wave followed typhoon, and the topics of heat wave accounted for the lowest percentage of 6%. Articles of typhoon and heavy rainfall accounted for 57%, which is more than half of all. Drought and cold wave are concentrated in the 60s to 70s, and heavy snowfall and heat wave have sharply increased since 2010, due to the tendency of global warming. Articles have decreased over time because the importance of those articles has declined as a result of social development.

This study describes the efficient method for the discrimination of 'Cheonryang' in Panax ginseng Meyer using a STS primer. A total of 208 STS primers were applied to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification for discriminating Korean ginseng cultivars. Co-dominant polymorphic band patterns were generated with two primers, MFGp 0019, MFGp 0248, and successful identification of 'Cheonryang' was achieved from out of 11 Korean ginseng cultivars. Two different sizes of DNA band patterns were detected with MFGp 0019 primer. Ten Korean ginseng cultivars shared the same size of amplified DNAs (389 bp), but 'Cheonryang' showed a different size. Thus 'Cheonryang' can be efficiently distinguished from the other ten ginseng cultivars by using the MFGp 0019 primer. In the case of MFGp 0248, two different sizes of DNA band patterns were detected in the eleven ginseng cultivars. Same sized amplified DNA bands (307 bp) were shown in five cultivars (Chunpoong, Gopoong, Kumpoong, Cheongsun, Sunhyang) and 254 bp sized DNA bands were identified in the other 6 cultivars (Yunpoong, Sunpoong, Sunun, Sunone, Cheonryang, K-1). In conclusion, the two STS primers, MFGp 0019, and MFGp 0248, provide a rapid and reliable method for the specific identification of 'Cheonryang' cultivar from a large number of samples.

To control the disease of root rot in ginseng nursery, inorganic sulfur solution of 0.1%, 1.0%, and 2.0% were irrigated by amount of 10ℓ per 3.3m2 before sowing. On the last ten days of July, Fusarium solani and F. oxysporum were similarly detected by 44.8% and 43.8%, respectively, while Cylindrocarpon destructans was low detected by 4.4% in the diseased seedling. The more sulfur's concentration was increased, the more soil pH was decreased. Soil pH was decreased from 5.87 to 4.59 by the irrigation of sulfur solution of 1.0%. The more sulfur's concentration was increased, the more electrical conductivity (EC) of soil was increased. EC was increased from 0.27 dS/m to 1.28 dS/m by the irrigation of sulfur solution of 1.0%. Irrigation of sulfur solution was effective on the inhibition of damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani in ginseng seedling. Control value for damping-off by the irrigation of sulfur solution of 1.0% and 2.0% were 75.7%, and 78.5%, respectively. Growth of leaf was inhibited by the irrigation of sulfur solution of 2.0%. Root weight per 3.3m2 showed the peak in sulfur solution of 1.0%, while survived-root ratio and root weight per plant were decreased in the level of 2.0%. Survived-root ratio of seedling in sulfur solution of 1.0% was distinctly increased by 4.7 times compare to the control, but control value for root rot was relatively low as 49.2%. Mycelium growth of C. destructans, F. solani, and R. solani were distinctly inhibited by the increase of sulfur's concentration in vitro culture using PDA medium.