Dongbu Farm Hannong completes construction of Asia's largest greenhouse

Dongbu Farm Hwaong, a subsidiary of South Korea's major farming company Dongbu Farm Hannong (DFH), fully constructed agricultural product export complex on Hwaong, a reclaimed land in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province. The 10.5 hectare (ha)-size complex has a plant nursery and an agricultural produce distribution center that includes Asia's largest, cutting-edge glass greenhouse of 10.5 hectors in size.

The glass greenhouse is set to be used to grow quality tomatoes for exports. Tomatoes will be planted immediately following a ceremony for completion of construction scheduled Friday, and will be harvested in the first quarter (Q1) next year. Most of the tomatoes will be exported to Japan, with a market diversification strategy targeting China, Russia and Hong Kong in the future.

"60 percent of our greenhouse facility and technology employs domestic equipment and technology, thereby contributing to enhancing competitiveness of the Korean horticulture equipment industry," said an official of DFH. "The glass greenhouse at the Hwaong facility will serve as a base station for helping to achieve the government's goal of exporting Korean agricultural products worth $30 billion by 2020.

The agricultural complex was built with a total investment of 46.7 billion won ($43.58 million). 8.7 billion won from a free trade agreement (FTA) fund was invested in the groundwork construction including site renovation, while Dongbu Farm Hwaong spent 38 billion won on building main facilities such as the state-of-the-art glass greenhouse. In addition to the facility at Hwaong, DFH also plans to construct a massive agricultural complex of 333 ha including a cutting-edge greenhouse at Saemangeum, another reclaimed land in northern Jeolla Province.

[Written by Hyun Noh - Sun-ah Kim / edited by Soyoung Chung]

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