Support for horticultural research among consumer of republic of Korea
Wojciech J. Florkowski, Inkyu Lee and Dong Kyun Suh
Abstracts Book, 6th International Postharvest symposium, 8-12 April 2009, Antalya, Turkey. 256 pages.
2009
บทคัดย่อ
Support for horticultural research at public research institutes remains relevant. Rapid progress in agricultural technology allows the release of fruit and vegetable varieties that have attributes preferred by consumers including improved nutritional quality and taste. This paper examines attitudes in the Republic of Korea for supporting fruit and vegetable research and other areas of agricultural technology development and their changes over time. The study uses consumer survey data from 1,000 residents of Seoul gathered in 2005 and another survey of 1,100 consumers residing in seven major urban areas of Korea. Both surveys included the same question probing respondents for their support for various areas of agricultural research related to food production. The discussion centers on the differences in attitudes among residents of six administrative districts of Seoul in 2005 and seven urban centers in 2007. Although direct comparisons cannot be made because of the different data-generating process separated by time, the comparison provides insights about the link between the degree of support for horticultural research and selected respondent characteristics and opinions expressed by respondents. Results suggest differences in the degree of support and more often link the differences in support to the location and opinions than to socio-economic or demographic characteristics of the respondent. Knowledge of differences in attitudes allows research institutes to enhance the communication with the public and ascertain that research addresses issues that concern the public.