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'Apple master' banker wins top award in fruit contest
Oh Seong-seop poses with Sinano Gold apples at his farm on Mount Jiri in Hamyang County, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. Courtesy of Sunplus
By Ko Dong-hwan
A farmer and banker has won a top prize at Korea Fruit Industry Competition, according to Korea Fruit Agricultural Federation, Friday. The honor recognized the second-generation apple grower's efforts in breeding quality apples and creating opportunities for public education in farming.
Oh Seong-seop, 59, won the Prime Minister's Award with his Sinano Gold Apple in the annual competition hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and organized by the federation also known as Sunplus. The event, the 13th installment this year, is held Friday to Sunday in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.
Now instructing employees at Industrial Bank of Korea with 36 years of experience in the financial sector, Oh has been tending to his apple farm on 500 meters up Mount Jiri in southern Korea for the past 15 years. He took over responsibility from his father, who started managing the farm in the early 1980s.
The Seoul citizen has been traveling to and from the farm in Hamyang County, South Gyeongsang Province, every weekend. The roundtrip, which he has made at least 1,500 times, is around 500 kilometers.
At the farm, a 2.5 hectare-large soil grows 40 tons of Sinano Gold apples each year. Along with smaller crops of blueberries, dried persimmons and onions, his apples turn an annual profit of 500 million won ($383,000) on average. The figure comes from sales as well as education and experience programs he offers on the farm.
The farm went through renovations to grow apples densely in a limited space to maximize production.
The byproducts of hard-pressed fruit extracts are reused as fertilizers. Such practices earned Oh a good agricultural practices certification by the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service.
On the farm, he also teaches students from agricultural schools and those interested in apple farming. In his spare time, he hones apple growing practices at an agricultural college in South Gyeongsang Province.
"Seeing my father's back since I was young, I have long been aspiring to develop this fruit business," said Oh. "The award has allowed me to say the country's agricultural industry is bright and I thank God for the beautiful nature."
Sinano Gold apples earned an introduction in the October edition of Korea Agrafood, a magazine published by Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. to boost exports of the country's natural produce.