[Opinion] MBA in Agriculture

Greenhouse farmer Lee Byeong-woo earns more than 300 million won per year and drives a luxury car. Growing cabbages in January and watermelons in April, he works ten months a year and takes the remaining two months off.

Lee Won-gyu, CEO of Sesil Co., is projecting this year’s sales at 20 billion won. His company is raising insects that are natural enemies of pests for domestic use and export. With growing consumer preference for chemical-free produce, organic farming utilizing natural enemies to pests has spread and Sesil’s revenue has increased 100 times since 2003.

Choi Seong-ho, who earned his doctorate in plant pathology at Kansas State University, abruptly resigned as head of Chungcheong Nam-Do Agricultural Research & Extension Service in 2006. He is now growing peppers in Goesan County, North Chungcheong Province. Eight years before his term at the agricultural body ended, he left his secure job to become a farmer. “I thought if a farmer has the mindset of a business manager, he can earn a higher income than a city dweller. To prove this, I decided to become a farmer,” Choi said.

Last year, he surprised people by earning three times more profit than neighboring farms. This year, he aims to earn five times more. “Living conditions in agricultural regions are considered worse than they really are. But the reality is the opposite,” he said. For example, the annual income of a farm household whose head was in his 40s was 45.58 million won in 2006, while the corresponding annual income of an urban household was 43.94 million won. Farmers earned 1.64 million won more than those working in cities. Though rural districts have many advantages such as low cost of living and high quality of life, a long–standing perception has it that the countryside is a backwater shunned by young people. This perpetuates the vicious circle, Choi said.

With new farming methods using the words “eco-friendly” and “well-being and health” gaining in popularity, the opportunity to make a fortune in farming is also increasing. Taking notice of the potential, 108 companies in 2005 set up an association of agricultural leaders. Also rising is the number of would-be farmers who want to learn agricultural administration. Yeoju Institute of Farm Management is a pioneer in the field. This school has received applications for admission from many graduates of the nation’s top universities. The course is called an MBA in agriculture because graduates go on to command high incomes. At a time when the world is being dogged by agflation, the nation’s agricultural sector is set for a major revival.

Editorial Writer Hong Chan-sik (chansik@donga.com)