This experiment was conducted to breed a very early maturing variety of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) in Grassland and Forage Crops Division, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Cheonan 2015-2017. The new variety of Italian ryegrass, ‘Green call 2ho’ is a diploid variety with green in leaf color and has semi-erect growth habit in late autumn and erect growth habit in early spring, ‘Green call 2ho’ was in heading date as a early-maturing variety April 24. Also ‘Green call 2ho’ was narrower by 2 mm in flag leaf width, longer by 2.5 cm in flag leaf length and shorter by 3 cm in plant height than those of the control variety, ‘Florida 80’, respectively. ‘Green call 2ho’ was also thicker by 0.33 mm in stem thickness and strong in winter hardness. Dry matter (DM) yield (11,688 kg/ha) of ‘Green call 2ho’ was 7% higher than that of ‘Florida 80’. Total digestible nutrient (TDN), crude protein (CP) and relative feed value (RFV) of ‘Green call 2ho’ were 61.3 %, 9.8 % and 98.2, respectively which are 2.6, 0.6, and 8.4 % higher, respectively than those of ‘Florida 80’, respectively. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of ‘Green call 2ho’ were 34.9 and 58.5 % which are 3.3 and 2.7 % lower than those of ‘Florida 80’, respectively.

This study is exploratory research on a relationship between changes in cultivated area of major crops and farm income by regions. We investigated level of income, volatility of income, and migration of suitable region by climate changes as factors influencing changes in cultivated area. Research processes are as follows. First, we classify the regions where cultivated areas are expanded or reduced through the trends of cultivated area by region and crop during recent 10 years. Second, we compare the changes in income related factors between groups during the same periods. Finally, the results from portfolio analysis show changes in stable income-based optimal crops. From these procedures, we found that the changes in cultivated area are not simply explained by income-related factors. In cases of vegetables, however, we also found that high volatility of income could contribute to reduce cultivated area of the crops. The results from portfolio analysis are not always consistent in all of cases. This means that crop selection can be decided by other factors than stable income.

Leuconostoc spp. are generally utilized as kimchi starters, because these strains are expected to have beneficial effects on kimchi fermentation, including improvement of sensory characteristics. Here, we developed a detection method for verifying the presence of the kimchi starter Leuconostoc mesenteroides WiKim33, which is used for control of kimchi fermentation. A primer set for multiplex polymerase chain reaction was designed based on the nucleotide sequence of the plasmids in strain WiKim33, and their specificity was validated against 45 different strains of Leuconostoc spp. and 30 other strains. Furthermore, the starter strain consistently tested positive, regardless of the presence of other bacterial species in starter kimchi during the fermentation period. Our findings showed that application of a strain-specific primer set for strain WiKim33 presented a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for detection of this kimchi starter strain during natural kimchi fermentation.