The Development and Application of Standard Diagnostic Table for Mountain Ginseng Management

摘要

This study aims to develop a standard diagnostic table for mountain ginseng so that the cultivators not only can check their current level of management with the table, but also can understand and address operational challenges better by themselves utilizing the table. The standard diagnostic table consists of 3 categories and 18 subcategories to diagnose the general status of forestry households, the indicators of management performance and the level of management. To develop the table, the study conducted a survey on the actual condition of management, targeting 81 forestiy households throughout 15 municipalities including Mu-ju, Jeollabukdo, and Ham-yang, Gyeongsangnamdo, all of which are the chief producing districts of mountain ginseng. Then, the study calculated total scores by regions by aggregating the scores of 18 subcategories, in order to evaluate and compare the management level among regions based on the scores. According to the result, the average score of 81 forestry households was 57.2 point-58% of which surveyed belonged to the range of 40-60 point. Compared by regions, the average score of Jeollabukdo regions was 52.9 point, the lowest, and that of Gyeongsangnamdo regions was 61.4 point, the highest. It is remarkable that among the indicators of management base, the average score of ‘mounding (the height of mound)’ item was recorded rather low with 1.59 point, reflecting the fact that the cultivators tend to raise mountain ginseng with no additional mounds. As for the indicators of production skills, the average score of the pest control item was remarkably low with 1.28 point. Over 90% of cultivators answered that they do not usually forecast or survey the pest disease in advance. Meanwhile, it is also noticeable that the item of sowing and planting methods, and the item of seed were both rather high, recording 4.00 and 4.47 point respectively. As for the item of management and sales skill, however, the score was rather low with 2.20 point, meaning that the forestry households still have a low interest in the business management.