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Rural Development Administration National Institute of Crop Science

Understanding of production

Understanding of production

 

1. Environments for Peanut Production
The Republic of Korea consists of a peninsula protruded southward from the north east of the Asian Continent and numerous islands scattered around the peninsula The peninsula is located in the temperate zone(33°06´~43°00´N latitude) The total size of the Korean peninsula including more than 3,000 islands is 221 thousand square kilometers of which about 45% belongs to South Korea below the Demilitarized Zone. The Republic of Korea is a type of mountainous country rarely seen throughout the world and its mountainous area covers more than 70% of the land. Mountains in general are high to the north and to the east, and low to the west and to the south with the ridge of the spine (the Taebaek Mountain Range) lying inclined toward the east to form steep slopes along the east coast and slow slopes along the west coast. The Climate of Korea is generally temperate and monsoonal. The annual average temperature ranges from 12°c to 15°c in the southern area, 10~12°c in the central area and 5~10°c in the northern area. The average temperature of the coldest month, January, is above 0°c along the southern coastal area, below -5°c in the central area, and -10°c to -20°c in the Gaema Plain area. On the contrary, the average temperature of the hottest month, August, is over 22°c, In general terms, Korea could be considered as a country of relative humidity with an annual average precipitation of 1,159mm. But there are significant regional and seasonal variations in precipitation. Regional precipitation varies with more than 60% of the total precipitation occurring during the rainy season of June to September. Natural disasters in Korea are mostly caused by floods and droughts resulting from special climatic and physical conditions of the geographical location of the country. Demand for water does not vary greatly by season, but rainfall occurs collectively from June through September, creating a seasonal unbalance of water because peanut is sown from mid April under polyethylene film mulch condition in Korea. Peanut is one of the crops which have the longest growth period among summer crops in Korea, Particularly, in large-seed varieties, growth and development duration ranges from 150 to 180 days with air temperature over 20°c and accumulated temperature over 2,800°c. So that the optimum area of peanut culture is the southern part of Korea which is over 155 days in growth period and over 3,300°c in accumulated temperature. In Korea, peanut has been cultivated under the poor conditions from sowing to harvest. Therefore, polyethylene film mulching in growing peanut has been most important cultural technique in Korea.