A Study on Factors of Farmers' Decision-Making for the Selection of Crop Cultivation - A Case of Inje-Gun in Gangwon Province -

Farmers seek for high profitability by increasing the best use of land, and the selection of crops is the first and basic way to achieve their goals. When farmers select crops, the climate, price and productivity of crops are usually considered at the first stage. However, a crucial factor is to understand general characteristics of soils where the crops were grown, but many farmers are lacking in detailed knowledge about soils. The purpose of this study is to search and analyses factors based upon related soil and others in decision-making for the selection of crops. In result, the cultivated rate of the top 5 corps in the suitable areas for cultivation (SAC) is only 53 % which shows most farmers are plants their crops in unsuitable sites. To examine factors influencing on the selection of crops except for soils, surveys about their farm characteristic and Korea Soil Information System (KSIS) were conducted. The result of survey shows 20 % of farmers know KSIS. To increase that rate, there were many changes on soil's characteristic, and at the same time, climate conditions should be updated. It can be expected to increase the rate of farmers' utilization of KSIS.