A comparison of convenience food consumption among different income levels in South Korea

Hwang, Yeseul,Choe, Young Chan Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2016 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.8 No.2

The interest in convenience food has increased over the years. Many researchers have tried to discover what factors affect the consumption of convenience food. Despite the diversity of studies, few studies emphasize a household's income. The aim of this article is to identify the different consumption patterns between upper, middle, and lower income brackets. Generally, households with higher income consumed more convenience food or the relationship was not significant. However, many convenience foods are regarded as nutritionally unbalanced and have a lower quality. So, the hypothesis cannot be easily confirmed because there are tradeoffs not only between health, as nutrition balance and cost, but also health and convenience. Thus, there is a need to indicate the divergent attributes of buying convenience food in a distinct income group. In addition, the convenience food is subdivided into two distinct categories: convenience food as a substitution for a whole meal (unhealthy) and substitution as part of a diet (healthy). We found that higher income groups purchase healthier convenience food while lower income groups purchase unhealthier convenience food. Also there are distinct attributes that influence the consumption of healthy and unhealthy convenience food.

The Global Knowledge Linkage Structures of the Agricultural Sector Pertinent to Information Technology: A Triple Helix Perspective

Hossain, Md. Dulal,Moon, Junghoon,Choe, Young Chan Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2011 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.3 No.1

The development of informatization impacts all sectors, including agriculture. Agricultural informatization builds the knowledge linkage structures of agricultural innovation systems globally. This study investigated the global knowledge linkage structures in agricultural innovation pertinent to information technology (IT) for agricultural research and development (R&D) investments and activities. We explored the longitudinal trend of systemness within the networked research relationships in the triple helix (TH) of the university, industry and government (UIG). We collected data from publications in the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) to analyze the TH network dynamics. We also performed a scientometrics analysis to quantitatively identify the knowledge and insights of global agricultural innovation structures. These results could be informative for individual countries. Our findings reveal that the global knowledge linkage structures in the agricultural sector that are pertinent to IT fluctuate widely and fail to increase the capacity of agricultural innovation research due to a neglect of the network effects of the TH dynamics of UIG.

The Role of Information Sharing and Social Community in the Evolution of Collaborative Food Networks

Bolici, Francesco Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2011 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.3 No.1

In this exploratory analysis, we investigate the genesis and the evolution of local food-purchasing networks created and operated by consumers. In details, we describe how collecting and sharing information about food-products can become a central activity for some consumers' communities and how these communities are starting to play an active role in the food supply chain. We define this community-based food-purchasing model as collaborative food network (CFN), and we analytically describe its characteristics and differences with respect to the traditional and industrialized agrifood supply chain models. A collaborative food network community in Italy, known as GAS ("Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale" - "Solidarity Purchasing Groups"), is introduced as an example of our analytical model. We will use this empirical example to present the strengths and weaknesses of the CFN model.

A Study on the Presence of the Information Management Division and its Effect on the Digital Divide among Different Regions of Korea

Park, Woo-seok,Rhee, Cheul Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2011 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.3 No.2

With the confirmation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and as cheap foreign agricultural products are beginning to be freely distributed in Korea, the government has taken a greater interest in securing the competitiveness of domestic agriculture. Accordingly, the Korean government has presented plans to advance the interests of 'small but strong farmers' and secure their competitiveness in line with the agricultural conditions in Korea. The government also announced that it will focus on leading these efforts in rural areas. The main thrust of this plan to support 'small but strong farmers' focuses onutilizing advanced peripheral technologies such as IT and BT; however, there are only a few Information Management Division centers currentlyoperating across the nation, and these are mainly in the IT-related divisions of the Agricultural Research and Extension Services and Agricultural Technology Centers. Therefore, in this study, we used the responses from a survey of farmers to identify regional differences in informatization levels and the digital divide among 'small but strong farmers' according to the presence or absence of an Information Management Division center. As a result, we found that the 'small but strong farmers' in regions with an active Information Management Division center received more IT services and had a higher level of informatization. Thus, to increase the use of IT-related peripheral technology by these 'small but strong farmers', it is important to maintain or increase the number of Information Management Division centers.

An Exploratory Research on the Improvement of Agricultural Food-related Public Organizations' Information Service : Based on the example of Okdab.kr's information service improvement strategy

Ham, Eunin,Lee, Jongtae Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2018 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.10 No.1

Development, availability and users' participation in the information service of agricultural food sector is slower than that of other sectors in Korea. This phenomenon comes from the lack of development strategies and comparative analyses with other sectors, as well as the agricultural food industry's own characteristics which is developed based on the offline market. In this research, we will discuss about how to improve the public information service of agricultural food sector based on the example of establishing service improvement strategy by the most representative Okdab. In this research, we have drawn the following implications for development strategy of Okdab service based on three core keywords derived from benchmarking KOSIS. Three core subjects for upgrading public information service are 'analysis information with expertise and differentiation,' 'user cooperation-oriented platform,' and 'intuitive nd effective UX,' and to strength B.I. as an integrated information service of agricultural food sector, we need to identify the users' satisfaction and needs for the existing service, establish an optimized operating strategy on a short-term, mid-term and long term bases, and implement them in a positive way. Based on this positive action, it can become a trustworthy information service for the users, and we can expect the improvement of the users' recognition for its consistent usability and efficiency.

Trend of Domestic Fig Industry and its Implications

Lim, Jeeyoung,You, Jihye,Park, Junhong,Moon, Junghoon Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2018 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.10 No.1

Fig is a fruit of which the flesh is very sweet, and it is a tree which has been grown for fruit in Korea since long time ago. However, since the flesh of fig tends to be easily softened, commercial cultivation of this fruit began later than that of other fruit trees grown for profit, however, the cultivation and demand of fig tend to be increased steadily due to the development of technology for storage and distribution since the 2000s. In addition, as the domestic dining culture is getting diversified, the dishes cooked by using fig as a food material are introduced through diverse foods including dessert, and it is possible to intake fig in diverse ways, but not through the traditional processed food. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a measure of expanding the consumption of fig as a processed food, and it will be possible to overcome the limitation of short storage period, while securing the competitiveness of the fig industry. In this research, we have studied the history of domestic fig cultivation, current status of it and status of processed foods through related documents and materials, and the characteristics of the consumers who purchase figs. Fig is a traditional fruit, however, we could find out the fact that the consumers tend not to recognize it as a traditional one. Therefore, if we could add fig to various processed foods utilizing its sweet taste, rather than increasing the consumption of fresh fruits, it may increase the consumption of it.

A Comparative Analysis of the Institution and Market of Health Functional Food Between Korea and Japan

Seo, Soyoung,You, Jihye,Moon, Junghoon Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2017 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.9 No.2

The aim of this study was to forecast the future Health Functional Food (HFF) market trends of Korea by studied about policies and market situation in Japan. The HFF is a food that is given an additional health function. In contrast with traditional foods, the HFF has unique characteristics in that it can be produced under the political regulations. The market size of the HFF was growing gradually due to the increased of an aging population and consumer need for high quality and diversified foods. The reason why the HFF market in Japan grew up earlier than other countries, Japan was the first country that institutionalized the HFF policies. Therefore, in this paper, by examining the policies and the market situation of Japan through literatures, we forecasted upcoming political and market situational changes of Korea's HFF market. We noticed that consumers needs about the HFFs which diversified, confidently ensured safety and ingredients will increase. In this regard, the government will reorganize legislation in order to increase the confidence of the safety of HFFs. In addition, the market size of domestic HFFs which are produced by major food companies will grow.

Status of ICT Convergence Smart Quality Distribution Technology for Food Quality and Safety Management

Kim, Jong Hoon,Kim, Ji Young,Kim, Byeong Sam Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2014 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.6 No.2

The world is in the process of a structural change related to ICT convergence knowledge industries. ICT is leading to the creation of new products and services, and is making our lives more convenient, safer, and more efficient. In advanced countries, many studies have been conducted with the goal of developing new business models converged with ICT, and this is also the case in the food industry. Korea possesses world-leading ICT, and if this ICT is applied to the food industry, a world-class new business model can be developed. The u-Food System, which is in the process of development in Korea, is a next-generation food system that can allow food providers, consumers, and distributors to access various types of information about food products, including traceability, distribution, safety, quality, and freshness, and manage this information. It is a future food system that converges ICT, biotechnology and sensing technology with food. Based on the u-Food System, this paper will introduce the status of current smart quality distribution technologies that converge ICT (such as sensor tag, sensor network, LBS, GIS, and CDMA) with food technologies (such as traceability, quality, distribution management) to manage the safety and quality of fresh food in the distribution process.

GIS/GPS based Precision Agriculture Model in India -A Case study

Mudda, Suresh Kumar Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2018 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.10 No.2

In the present day context of changing information needs of the farmers and diversified production systems there is an urgent need to look for the effective extension support system for the small and marginal farmers in the developing countries like India. The rapid developments in the collection and analysis of field data by using the spatial technologies like GPS&GIS were made available for the extension functionaries and clientele for the diversified information needs. This article describes the GIS and GPS based decision support system in precision agriculture for the resource poor farmers. Precision farming techniques are employed to increase yield, reduce production costs, and minimize negative impacts to the environment. The parameters those can affect the crop yields, anomalous factors and variations in management practices can be evaluated through this GPS and GIS based applications. The spatial visualisation capabilities of GIS technology interfaced with a relational database provide an effective method for analysing and displaying the impacts of Extension education and outreach projects for small and marginal farmers in precision agriculture. This approach mainly benefits from the emergence and convergence of several technologies, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), geographic information system (GIS), miniaturised computer components, automatic control, in-field and remote sensing, mobile computing, advanced information processing, and telecommunications. The PPP convergence of person (farmer), project (the operational field) and pixel (the digital images related to the field and the crop grown in the field) will better be addressed by this decision support model. So the convergence and emergence of such information will further pave the way for categorisation and grouping of the production systems for the better extension delivery. In a big country like India where the farmers and holdings are many in number and diversified categorically such grouping is inevitable and also economical. With this premise an attempt has been made to develop a precision farming model suitable for the developing countries like India.

An Observation Supporting System for Predicting Citrus Fruit Production

Kang, Hee Joo,Yoo, Seung Tae,Yang, Young Jin Korean Society of Food and Agricultural Informatio 2015 Agribusiness and Information Management Vol.7 No.1

The purpose of this study is to develop a growth prediction model that can predict growth and development information influencing the production of citrus fruits: the growth model algorithm that can predict floral leaf ratio, number of fruit sets, fruit width, and overweight depending on the main period of growth and development with consideration of the applied weather factors. Every year, large scale of manpower was mobilized to investigate the production of outdoor-grown citrus fruits, but it was limited to recycling the data without an observation supporting system to systemize the database. This study intends to create a systematical database based on the basic data obtained through the observation supporting system in application of an algorithm according to the accumulated long term data and prepare a base for its continuous improvement and development. The importance of the observed data is increasingly recognized every year, and the citrus fruit observation supporting system is important for utilizing an effective policy and decision making according to various applications and analysis results through an interconnection and an integration of the investigated statistical data. The citrus fruit is a representative crop having a great ripple effect in Jeju agriculture. An early prediction of the growth and development information influencing the production of citrus fruits may be helpful for decision making in supply and demand control of agricultural products.