Korea will host the next Organic World Congress in 2011. The early pioneers of organic farming looked to the East for both evidence and inspiration. Korea now appears to be in the process of rediscovering its organic farming heritage. It is now seeking recognition as an organic producer. South Korea has 46 members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and North Korea has two members. South Korean organic agriculture increased ten-fold from 2004 to 2009 with 9729 hectares now certified. South Korean organic farms increased six-fold in the period 2004 to 2009, from 1237 to 7507. Substantial further increases in Korea’s organic area seem likely in the immediate future. With Korea’s new-found commitment to organics comes the privilege of hosting the next triennial IFOAM Organic World Congress in 2011. In a further shift towards Asia, the new IFOAM World Board, elected at Modena in 2008, has four board members from Asia. Hosting the Organic Congress is expected to stimulate the Korean organic movement and be an opportunity to display local organic know-how, including organic rice cultivation techniques. Korea’s 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress has the theme “Toward an Environmentally Benign Community”, and the dates are 27 September to 5 October 2011. The Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Moon Soo Kim has a vision of making Korea “the world's most environmentally friendly country by 2011”

Paull, John

English

K-Developedia(KDI School) Repository

22 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009Asia is going green. Eighty one per cent of South Korea’s economic stimulus package consists of green projects. For China the fi gure is 38%, while for the USA it is only 12% (Bacani, 2009). Meanwhile the green component of Australia’s economic stimulus package has been reported as merely “tokenistic” (Evans, 2009, p.2)The early pioneers of bio-dynamic and organic farming all looked to the East for both evidence and inspiration. As an early agri-tourist, Professor Franklin King spent eight months of 1909 travelling through China, Korea, and Japan (Paull, 2006). King was an acute observer and, fortunate for us, he carefully documented the agricultural practices that he observed in the orient a century ago. King had had a falling out with the United States Department of Agriculture (USADA). He was in dispute over the then prevailing USDA dogma of the perpetual fertility of the soil without replenishment. King resigned from the USDA, and his visit to Asia was a knock-on effect of his quest for evidence of sound, rather than exploitative, farming practices. The tangible outcome of King’s agri-tourism was a carefully documented account of Asian farming practices pre-Haber-Bosch synthetic fertiliser and pre-synthetic pesticides. King’s book Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan (1911) was republished in the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s, and it is still in print. The earliest pioneers of both bio-dynamic and organic agriculture cited King’s Farmers of Forty Centuries account of Asian farming practices. These pioneers include Rudolf Steiner (1924), Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1938), Lord Northbourne (1940), Eve Balfour (1943), Jerome Rodale (1945), Australian’s Colonel Harold White and Professor Stanton Hicks (1953), and the Howards (1954), all of whom looked eastward.Korea now appears to be in the process of rediscovering its organic farming heritage. It is making a serious bid for recognition as an organic producer. South Korea has 46 members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and North Korea has two members; compare this to Australia with just nine members (2009).Despite a recent Chasers comedy skit on ABC television which displayed to Americans a map of the world with the Australian mainland mislabelled “North Korea”, and Tasmania mislabelled “South Korea”, in geographic reality, the Korean peninsula is still in the northern hemisphere. It does have a  considerable length of coastline, and it shares a northern border with its only contiguous neighbour, Korea Rediscovers Organic Agricultureby  John  PaullFenner  School  of  Environment  and  Society,  Australian  National  University,  Canberrajohn.paull[a]anu.edu.auISSUE 95 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA 23China. North and South Korea, taken together, have an area of 220,000 km2 and a population of 75 million. That is about the size of Victoria with about 15 times the population; or alternatively, Korea is more than twice the size of Tasmania, with a population 150 times greater.South Korean organic agriculture increased ten-fold from 2004 to 2009 - from a very low base of 902 hectares, to 9729 hectares (see Fig.1). While these are very modest fi gures, all the indications are that Korea is poised for a significant embrace of organics, and that substantial increases in its organic area, in the immediate future, seem likely. The corresponding fi gures for North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) are not reported in Willer & Kilcher (2009).(See Figure 1 below.)South Korean organic farms/producers increased six-fold in the period 2004 to 2009, from 1237 to 7507 (see Fig.2). As with the organic hectares (Fig.1) there appears to be some substantial fluctuation; this may be an artefact of the data collection and reporting methodology, rather than a “real” peak and subsequent decline. If the 2006 data point is disregarded as unreliable, the data set exhibits a steady increase over the past several years in organic farms/producers in the Republic of Korea.(See Figure 2 on the next page.) A mark of Korea’s new-found commitment to organics is that the next IFOAM Organic World Congress, a triennial event, will be held in Korea in 2011. The Korea Bidding Committee said that an Organic Congress win for Korea would “create ample opportunities to stimulate the organic Figure 1: Organic Hectares: a decade of Certifi ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (hectares are certifi ed organic hectares; dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).24 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009movement in the country”. They declared it would also be an opportunity to display local organic know-how, including: “organic rice agricultural methods such as duck-rice and crab-rice” and the “unique characteristics of Korean rice agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.1).When it came time for a vote of IFOAM delegates, the 2011 Organic World Congress heading eastward was a forgone conclusion. There were three competing delegations, each of them from Asia. Korea, Taiwan and Negros Island, the Philippines, were the contenders for the 2011 Organic World Congress. The island of Negros was outgunned and outspent on all fronts. Taiwan and Korea were seriously competitive contenders for the vote in the medieval town of Vignola in Italy. Both these bidders presented well crafted and budgeted bids, and each attended with an enthusiastic contingent of its own organic advocates.An Organic World Congress in Asia is described as an “historic event” and a fi rst for Asia (KBC, 2008, p.1). The Korean Bidding Committee declared that the provincial government of Gyeonggi, in the mid-west of South Korea, has committed “funding of 2 billion won” which they stated is “equivalent to US$2 million” (KBC, 2008, p.3). According to the Bidding Committee, Gyeonggi Province: “is the core of the South Korean agriculture industry. The province has made a strong commitment to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals in its goal to encourage sustainable agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.3). At the presentation of bids in Italy, the Figure 2: Organic Farms/Producers: a decade of Certifi ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).ISSUE 95 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA 25Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Moon Soo Kim, described his vision of making Korea “the world’s most environmentally friendly country by 2011”. He said that “by hosting the event, I hope to contribute to the development of organic farming, both in Korea and around the world. I will do my utmost to ensure the success of this event”. The proposed venue for the next Organic World Congress is the Korean Film Council Studios (KOFIC) in Namyangju, 20 kilometres from the capital, Seoul. The bidding committee claimed that KOFIC is the largest complex of its kind in Asia and advised that KOFIC includes accommodation, seminar rooms and restaurants - as well as fi lm sets and studios. From a Namyangju-based Organic Congress, the Korean organisers promised visitors options of three to fi ve day tours of organic farms. They outlined that delegates in 2011 could choose a tour of local organic farms in South Korea, or of both North and South Korea “including the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)”. Two broader touring choices will be visits to organic facilities in Korea and Japan, or facilities in Korea and China (KBC, 2008, p.4-5). (See Figure 3.)The 2008 General Assembly of IFOAM in Italy, also witnessed a shift to the East. The new IFOAM World Board includes four board members from Asia, which I believe is a record. These Asian-domiciled members are from India, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Europe achieved two delegates, Australia one (see Fig.3). Although IFOAM World Board members ostensibly act for the organic sector, rather than for a geographic region, it would, nevertheless, be naive to dismiss the seismic signifi cance of this geographic shift to the East.An Organic World Congress in Korea will present the latest thinking and developments in the organic sector, and the location promises to be an eye-opener as well as a taste-bud treat for delegates. Korea’s 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress has the theme “Toward an Environmentally Benign Community”, and the dates announced are 27 September to 5 October, 2011.ReferencesBacani, C. (2009). A race everybody wins. China, Japan and South Korea team up to challenge America for green-tech supremacy. Time, 20 July:41. Figure 3: A shift to the East: Geographic domiciles of 2008-elected IFOAM World Board members.26 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009Balfour, E. B. (1943). The Living Soil: Evidence of the importance to human health of soil vitality, with special reference to post-war planning (7th edn. 1947). London: Faber and Faber.Evans, G. (2009). Stimulus Package Initial Praise for Government Stimulus Package, (ABC Radio News Transcript, 3 February). Canberra: Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).Howard, L. E. (1954). Sir Albert Howard in India. Emmaus,PA: Rodale Press.IFOAM (2009). Organic Directory Online. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), from www.ifoam.orgKBC (2008). Bidding Proposal for the 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress 2011. Seoul: The Korea Bidding Committee.King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, (Edited by Professor J.P. Bruce). Madison, Wisconsin: Mrs. F. H. King.Northbourne, Lord (1940). Look to the Land. London: Dent.Paull, J. (2006). Permanent Agriculture: Precursor to Organic Farming. Elementals: Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, (83):19-21. Pfeiffer, E. (1938). Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening: Soil Fertility Renewal and Preservation (F. Heckel, Trans.). New York: Anthroposophic Press.Rodale, J. I. (1945). Pay Dirt: Farming & Gardening with Composts. New York: Devin-Adair Company.Steiner, R. (1924). Agriculture Course, (“Printed for private circulation only”; 1929, first English language edition; George Kaufmann Trans). Dornach, Switzerland: Geotheanum.White, H. F. & Hicks, C. S. (1953). Life from the Soil. Melbourne: Longmans Green & Co.Willer, H. & Kilcher, L. (Eds). (2009). The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emeging Trends 2009. Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); & Geneva, Switzerland: International Trade Centre (ITC).Antipodean Astro Calendars!"#$%&'$())*$+,-./0,'1Contact U te Mueller())$23&441$506$$789:;<=8$$>,1$$?@(#A4.BA.--.'C1DEB.1FG3&BG,AH)@I$JKK#$K(LJ

Korea rediscovers organic agriculture

Korea will host the 2011 Organic World Congress. The early pioneers of organic farming looked to Asia for both evidence and inspiration. Korea is rediscovering its organic farming heritage, and is now seeking recognition as an organic producer. South Korea has 46 members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and North Korea has two members. South Korean organic agriculture increased ten-fold from 2004 to 2009 with 9729 hectares now certified. South Korean organic farms increased six-fold in the period 2004 to 2009, from 1237 to 7507. Substantial further increases in Korea’s organic area seem likely in the immediate future. With Korea’s new-found commitment to organics comes the privilege of hosting the next triennial IFOAM Organic World Congress in 2011. In a further shift towards Asia, the new IFOAM World Board, elected at Modena in 2008, has four board members from Asia. Hosting the Organic Congress is expected to stimulate the Korean organic movement and be an opportunity to display local organic know-how, including organic rice cultivation techniques. Korea’s 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress has the theme “Toward an Environmentally Benign Community”, and the dates are 27 September to 5 October 2011. The Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Moon Soo Kim has a vision of making Korea “the world's most environmentally friendly country by 2011”

The Australian National University

22 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009Asia is going green. Eighty one per cent of South Korea’s economic stimulus package consists of green projects. For China the fi gure is 38%, while for the USA it is only 12% (Bacani, 2009). Meanwhile the green component of Australia’s economic stimulus package has been reported as merely “tokenistic” (Evans, 2009, p.2)The early pioneers of bio-dynamic and organic farming all looked to the East for both evidence and inspiration. As an early agri-tourist, Professor Franklin King spent eight months of 1909 travelling through China, Korea, and Japan (Paull, 2006). King was an acute observer and, fortunate for us, he carefully documented the agricultural practices that he observed in the orient a century ago. King had had a falling out with the United States Department of Agriculture (USADA). He was in dispute over the then prevailing USDA dogma of the perpetual fertility of the soil without replenishment. King resigned from the USDA, and his visit to Asia was a knock-on effect of his quest for evidence of sound, rather than exploitative, farming practices. The tangible outcome of King’s agri-tourism was a carefully documented account of Asian farming practices pre-Haber-Bosch synthetic fertiliser and pre-synthetic pesticides. King’s book Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan (1911) was republished in the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s, and it is still in print. The earliest pioneers of both bio-dynamic and organic agriculture cited King’s Farmers of Forty Centuries account of Asian farming practices. These pioneers include Rudolf Steiner (1924), Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1938), Lord Northbourne (1940), Eve Balfour (1943), Jerome Rodale (1945), Australian’s Colonel Harold White and Professor Stanton Hicks (1953), and the Howards (1954), all of whom looked eastward.Korea now appears to be in the process of rediscovering its organic farming heritage. It is making a serious bid for recognition as an organic producer. South Korea has 46 members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and North Korea has two members; compare this to Australia with just nine members (2009).Despite a recent Chasers comedy skit on ABC television which displayed to Americans a map of the world with the Australian mainland mislabelled “North Korea”, and Tasmania mislabelled “South Korea”, in geographic reality, the Korean peninsula is still in the northern hemisphere. It does have a  considerable length of coastline, and it shares a northern border with its only contiguous neighbour, Korea Rediscovers Organic Agricultureby  John  PaullFenner  School  of  Environment  and  Society,  Australian  National  University,  Canberrajohn.paull@anu.edu.auISSUE 95 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA 23China. North and South Korea, taken together, have an area of 220,000 km2 and a population of 75 million. That is about the size of Victoria with about 15 times the population; or alternatively, Korea is more than twice the size of Tasmania, with a population 150 times greater.South Korean organic agriculture increased ten-fold from 2004 to 2009 - from a very low base of 902 hectares, to 9729 hectares (see Fig.1). While these are very modest fi gures, all the indications are that Korea is poised for a significant embrace of organics, and that substantial increases in its organic area, in the immediate future, seem likely. The corresponding fi gures for North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) are not reported in Willer & Kilcher (2009).(See Figure 1 below.)South Korean organic farms/producers increased six-fold in the period 2004 to 2009, from 1237 to 7507 (see Fig.2). As with the organic hectares (Fig.1) there appears to be some substantial fluctuation; this may be an artefact of the data collection and reporting methodology, rather than a “real” peak and subsequent decline. If the 2006 data point is disregarded as unreliable, the data set exhibits a steady increase over the past several years in organic farms/producers in the Republic of Korea.(See Figure 2 on the next page.) A mark of Korea’s new-found commitment to organics is that the next IFOAM Organic World Congress, a triennial event, will be held in Korea in 2011. The Korea Bidding Committee said that an Organic Congress win for Korea would “create ample opportunities to stimulate the organic Figure 1: Organic Hectares: a decade of Certifi ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (hectares are certifi ed organic hectares; dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).24 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009movement in the country”. They declared it would also be an opportunity to display local organic know-how, including: “organic rice agricultural methods such as duck-rice and crab-rice” and the “unique characteristics of Korean rice agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.1).When it came time for a vote of IFOAM delegates, the 2011 Organic World Congress heading eastward was a forgone conclusion. There were three competing delegations, each of them from Asia. Korea, Taiwan and Negros Island, the Philippines, were the contenders for the 2011 Organic World Congress. The island of Negros was outgunned and outspent on all fronts. Taiwan and Korea were seriously competitive contenders for the vote in the medieval town of Vignola in Italy. Both these bidders presented well crafted and budgeted bids, and each attended with an enthusiastic contingent of its own organic advocates.An Organic World Congress in Asia is described as an “historic event” and a fi rst for Asia (KBC, 2008, p.1). The Korean Bidding Committee declared that the provincial government of Gyeonggi, in the mid-west of South Korea, has committed “funding of 2 billion won” which they stated is “equivalent to US$2 million” (KBC, 2008, p.3). According to the Bidding Committee, Gyeonggi Province: “is the core of the South Korean agriculture industry. The province has made a strong commitment to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals in its goal to encourage sustainable agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.3). At the presentation of bids in Italy, the Figure 2: Organic Farms/Producers: a decade of Certifi ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).ISSUE 95 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA 25Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Moon Soo Kim, described his vision of making Korea “the world’s most environmentally friendly country by 2011”. He said that “by hosting the event, I hope to contribute to the development of organic farming, both in Korea and around the world. I will do my utmost to ensure the success of this event”. The proposed venue for the next Organic World Congress is the Korean Film Council Studios (KOFIC) in Namyangju, 20 kilometres from the capital, Seoul. The bidding committee claimed that KOFIC is the largest complex of its kind in Asia and advised that KOFIC includes accommodation, seminar rooms and restaurants - as well as fi lm sets and studios. From a Namyangju-based Organic Congress, the Korean organisers promised visitors options of three to fi ve day tours of organic farms. They outlined that delegates in 2011 could choose a tour of local organic farms in South Korea, or of both North and South Korea “including the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)”. Two broader touring choices will be visits to organic facilities in Korea and Japan, or facilities in Korea and China (KBC, 2008, p.4-5). (See Figure 3.)The 2008 General Assembly of IFOAM in Italy, also witnessed a shift to the East. The new IFOAM World Board includes four board members from Asia, which I believe is a record. These Asian-domiciled members are from India, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Europe achieved two delegates, Australia one (see Fig.3). Although IFOAM World Board members ostensibly act for the organic sector, rather than for a geographic region, it would, nevertheless, be naive to dismiss the seismic signifi cance of this geographic shift to the East.An Organic World Congress in Korea will present the latest thinking and developments in the organic sector, and the location promises to be an eye-opener as well as a taste-bud treat for delegates. Korea’s 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress has the theme “Toward an Environmentally Benign Community”, and the dates announced are 27 September to 5 October, 2011.ReferencesBacani, C. (2009). A race everybody wins. China, Japan and South Korea team up to challenge America for green-tech supremacy. Time, 20 July:41. Figure 3: A shift to the East: Geographic domiciles of 2008-elected IFOAM World Board members.26 ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA SPRING 2009Balfour, E. B. (1943). The Living Soil: Evidence of the importance to human health of soil vitality, with special reference to post-war planning (7th edn. 1947). London: Faber and Faber.Evans, G. (2009). Stimulus Package Initial Praise for Government Stimulus Package, (ABC Radio News Transcript, 3 February). Canberra: Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).Howard, L. E. (1954). Sir Albert Howard in India. Emmaus,PA: Rodale Press.IFOAM (2009). Organic Directory Online. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), from www.ifoam.orgKBC (2008). Bidding Proposal for the 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress 2011. Seoul: The Korea Bidding Committee.King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, (Edited by Professor J.P. Bruce). Madison, Wisconsin: Mrs. F. H. King.Northbourne, Lord (1940). Look to the Land. London: Dent.Paull, J. (2006). Permanent Agriculture: Precursor to Organic Farming. Elementals: Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, (83):19-21. Pfeiffer, E. (1938). Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening: Soil Fertility Renewal and Preservation (F. Heckel, Trans.). New York: Anthroposophic Press.Rodale, J. I. (1945). Pay Dirt: Farming & Gardening with Composts. New York: Devin-Adair Company.Steiner, R. (1924). Agriculture Course, (“Printed for private circulation only”; 1929, first English language edition; George Kaufmann Trans). Dornach, Switzerland: Geotheanum.White, H. F. & Hicks, C. S. (1953). Life from the Soil. Melbourne: Longmans Green & Co.Willer, H. & Kilcher, L. (Eds). (2009). The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emeging Trends 2009. Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); & Geneva, Switzerland: International Trade Centre (ITC).Antipodean Astro Calendars!"#$%&'$())*$+,-./0,'1Contact U te Mueller())$23&441$506$$789:;<=8$$>,1$$?@(#A4.BA.--.'C1DEB.1FG3&BG,AH)@I$JKK#$K(LJ

Korea Rediscovers Organic Agriculture

Organic Eprints

22  ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA  SPRING 2009Asia is going green. Eighty one per cent of South Korea’s economic stimulus package consists of green projects. For China the ﬁ  gure is 38%, while for the USA it is only 12% (Bacani, 2009). Meanwhile the green component of Australia’s economic stimulus package has been reported as merely “tokenistic” (Evans, 2009, p.2)The early pioneers of bio-dynamic and organic farming all looked to the East for both evidence and inspiration. As an early agri-tourist, Professor Franklin King spent eight months of 1909 travelling through China, Korea, and Japan (Paull, 2006). King was an acute observer and, fortunate for us, he carefully documented the agricultural practices that he observed in the orient a century ago. King had had a falling out with the United States Department of Agriculture (USADA). He was in dispute over the then prevailing USDA dogma of the perpetual fertility of the soil without replenishment. King resigned from the USDA, and his visit to Asia was a knock-on effect of his quest for evidence of sound, rather than exploitative, farming practices. The tangible outcome of King’s agri-tourism was a carefully documented account of Asian farming practices pre-Haber-Bosch synthetic fertiliser and pre-synthetic pesticides. King’s book Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan (1911) was republished in the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s, and it is still in print. The earliest pioneers of both bio-dynamic and organic agriculture cited King’s Farmers of Forty Centuries account of Asian farming practices. These pioneers include Rudolf Steiner (1924), Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1938), Lord Northbourne (1940), Eve Balfour (1943), Jerome Rodale (1945), Australian’s Colonel Harold White and Professor Stanton Hicks (1953), and the Howards (1954), all of whom looked eastward.Korea now appears to be in the process of rediscovering its organic farming heritage. It is making a serious bid for recognition as an organic producer. South Korea has 46 members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and North Korea has two members; compare this to Australia with just nine members (2009).Despite a recent Chasers comedy skit on ABC television which displayed to Americans a map of the world with the Australian mainland mislabelled “North Korea”, and Tasmania mislabelled “South Korea”, in geographic reality, the Korean peninsula is still in the northern hemisphere. It does have a  considerable length of coastline, and it shares a northern border with its only contiguous neighbour, Korea Rediscovers Organic Agricultureby John PaullFenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberrajohn.paull[a]anu.edu.auISSUE 95  ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA  23China. North and South Korea, taken together, have an area of 220,000 km2 and a population of 75 million. That is about the size of Victoria with about 15 times the population; or alternatively, Korea is more than twice the size of Tasmania, with a population 150 times greater.South Korean organic agriculture increased ten-fold from 2004 to 2009 - from a very low base of 902 hectares, to 9729 hectares (see Fig.1). While these are very modest ﬁ  gures, all the indications are that Korea is poised for a significant embrace of organics, and that substantial increases in its organic area, in the immediate future, seem likely. The corresponding ﬁ  gures for North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) are not reported in Willer & Kilcher (2009).(See Figure 1 below.)South Korean organic farms/producers increased six-fold in the period 2004 to 2009, from 1237 to 7507 (see Fig.2). As with the organic hectares (Fig.1) there appears to be some substantial fluctuation; this may be an artefact of the data collection and reporting methodology, rather than a “real” peak and subsequent decline. If the 2006 data point is disregarded as unreliable, the data set exhibits a steady increase over the past several years in organic farms/producers in the Republic of Korea.(See Figure 2 on the next page.) A mark of Korea’s new-found commitment to organics is that the next IFOAM Organic World Congress, a triennial event, will be held in Korea in 2011. The Korea Bidding Committee said that an Organic Congress win for Korea would “create ample opportunities to stimulate the organic Figure 1: Organic Hectares: a decade of Certiﬁ  ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (hectares are certiﬁ  ed organic hectares; dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).24  ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA  SPRING 2009movement in the country”. They declared it would also be an opportunity to display local organic know-how, including: “organic rice agricultural methods such as duck-rice and crab-rice” and the “unique characteristics of Korean rice agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.1).When it came time for a vote of IFOAM delegates, the 2011 Organic World Congress heading eastward was a forgone conclusion. There were three competing delegations, each of them from Asia. Korea, Taiwan and Negros Island, the Philippines, were the contenders for the 2011 Organic World Congress. The island of Negros was outgunned and outspent on all fronts. Taiwan and Korea were seriously competitive contenders for the vote in the medieval town of Vignola in Italy. Both these bidders presented well crafted and budgeted bids, and each attended with an enthusiastic contingent of its own organic advocates.An Organic World Congress in Asia is described as an “historic event” and a ﬁ  rst for Asia (KBC, 2008, p.1). The Korean Bidding Committee declared that the provincial government of Gyeonggi, in the mid-west of South Korea, has committed “funding of 2 billion won” which they stated is “equivalent to US$2 million” (KBC, 2008, p.3). According to the Bidding Committee, Gyeonggi Province: “is the core of the South Korean agriculture industry. The province has made a strong commitment to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals in its goal to encourage sustainable agriculture” (KBC, 2008, p.3). At the presentation of bids in Italy, the Figure 2: Organic Farms/Producers: a decade of Certiﬁ  ed Organic Agriculture in South Korea (Republic of Korea), (dates refer to the year of publication of the data; data sources: The World of Organic Agriculture, IFOAM, 2000 to 2009 (Willer & Kilcher, 2009, and nine prior editions)).ISSUE 95  ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA  25Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Moon Soo Kim, described his vision of making Korea “the world’s most environmentally friendly country by 2011”. He said that “by hosting the event, I hope to contribute to the development of organic farming, both in Korea and around the world. I will do my utmost to ensure the success of this event”. The proposed venue for the next Organic World Congress is the Korean Film Council Studios (KOFIC) in Namyangju, 20 kilometres from the capital, Seoul. The bidding committee claimed that KOFIC is the largest complex of its kind in Asia and advised that KOFIC includes accommodation, seminar rooms and restaurants - as well as ﬁ  lm sets and studios. From  a  Namyangju-based  Organic Congress, the Korean organisers promised visitors options of three to ﬁ  ve day tours of organic farms. They outlined that delegates in 2011 could choose a tour of local organic farms in South Korea, or of both North and South Korea “including the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)”. Two broader touring choices will be visits to organic facilities in Korea and Japan, or facilities in Korea and China (KBC, 2008, p.4-5). (See Figure 3.)The 2008 General Assembly of IFOAM in Italy, also witnessed a shift to the East. The new IFOAM World Board includes four board members from Asia, which I believe is a record. These Asian-domiciled members are from India, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Europe achieved two delegates, Australia one (see Fig.3). Although IFOAM World Board members ostensibly act for the organic sector, rather than for a geographic region, it would, nevertheless, be naive to dismiss the seismic signiﬁ  cance of this geographic shift to the East.An Organic World Congress in Korea will present the latest thinking and developments in the organic sector, and the location promises to be an eye-opener as well as a taste-bud treat for delegates. Korea’s 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress has the theme “Toward an Environmentally Benign Community”, and the dates announced are 27 September to 5 October, 2011.ReferencesBacani, C. (2009). A race everybody wins. China, Japan and South Korea team up to challenge America for green-tech supremacy. Time, 20 July:41. Figure 3: A shift to the East: Geographic domiciles of 2008-elected IFOAM World Board members.26  ELEMENTALS - JOURNAL OF BIO-DYNAMICS TASMANIA  SPRING 2009Balfour, E. B. (1943). The Living Soil: Evidence of the importance to human health of soil vitality, with special reference to post-war planning (7th edn. 1947). London: Faber and Faber.Evans, G. (2009). Stimulus Package Initial Praise for Government Stimulus Package, (ABC Radio News Transcript, 3 February). Canberra: Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).Howard, L. E. (1954). Sir Albert Howard in India. Emmaus,PA: Rodale Press.IFOAM (2009). Organic Directory Online. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), from www.ifoam.orgKBC (2008). Bidding Proposal for the 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress 2011. Seoul: The Korea Bidding Committee.King, F. H. (1911). Farmers of Forty Centuries, or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, (Edited by Professor J.P. Bruce). Madison, Wisconsin: Mrs. F. H. King.Northbourne, Lord (1940). Look to the Land. London: Dent.Paull, J. (2006). Permanent Agriculture: Precursor to Organic Farming. Elementals: Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, (83):19-21. Pfeiffer, E. (1938). Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening: Soil Fertility Renewal and Preservation (F. Heckel, Trans.). New York: Anthroposophic Press.Rodale, J. I. (1945). Pay Dirt: Farming & Gardening with Composts. New York: Devin-Adair Company.Steiner, R. (1924). Agriculture Course, (“Printed for private circulation only”; 1929, first English language edition; George Kaufmann Trans). Dornach, Switzerland: Geotheanum.White, H. F. & Hicks, C. S. (1953). Life from the Soil. Melbourne: Longmans Green & Co.Willer, H. & Kilcher, L. (Eds). (2009). The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emeging Trends 2009. Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL); & Geneva, Switzerland: International Trade Centre (ITC).Antipodean Astro Calendars                      Contact Ute Mueller                                                                          

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Korea Rediscovers Organic Agriculture

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