South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has selected Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province for its agricultural produce distribution center (APC) support project.
The province plans to use the selection to strengthen the competitiveness and retail infrastructure of locally grown Gangwon produce.
Through the project, the province aims to reinforce distribution functions for potatoes — covering harvesting, sorting, storage and shipment — while spreading out shipment volumes that currently concentrate in specific seasons. The goal is to stabilize farm incomes by building a foundation to absorb price fluctuations, and to ensure clean, fresh produce from the province reaches consumers nationwide throughout the year.
The project will be carried out by the Gangneung Agricultural Cooperative's APC, with a total budget of 5.9 billion won ($4.42 million) — comprising national government funds of 1.77 billion won, provincial funds of 885 million won, municipal funds of 885 million won and a self-funded portion of 2.36 billion won. Scheduled for 2027–2028, the project will expand sorting and cold-storage facilities and install smart equipment including automated potato sorters.
Cold-storage capacity for potatoes will grow from the current 1,080 tons to 1,994 tons — an increase of 914 tons — while daily sorting capacity will rise from 25 tons to 60 tons, boosting the center's overall throughput and operational efficiency.
"In line with the government's policy to modernize and streamline farm-level distribution, we will deepen cooperation with municipalities and producer organizations, and continue to expand the modernization and smart upgrading of distribution facilities to sharpen the competitiveness of Gangwon produce," said Lee Jong-bae, head of the province's agricultural produce distribution division.
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