hankyoreh

As climate change spurs the northward migration of tropical fruits, North Chungcheong Province has begun cultivating domestic bananas. On Mar. 31, the North Chungcheong Agriculture Research and Extension Service announced that it is working on developing commercially viable banana crops. Currently, bananas are being grown on two farms near the cities of Cheongju and Chungju. Although cultivation is still in the testing phase, agricultural analysts are saying a commercially competitive product is likely to come out soon. Bananas imported from Southeast Asia are chemically treated because they are picked in an unripe state before being shipped. Domestically cultivated bananas from Jeju, however, can be sold organically without the use of chemicals or pesticides, and are currently being sold at three to four times the rate of imported bananas.