Suwon Agricultural Technology Center Recruits Participants for Citizen Farm Vegetable Garden Experience

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The Suwon Agricultural Technology Center will recruit participants for the '2020 Citizen Farm Vegetable Garden Experience' for 10 days from March 3 to 12.

The Citizen Farm vegetable garden experience is an agricultural activity where citizens directly cultivate vegetable gardens prepared throughout Suwon City, including the Tapdong Citizen Farm in Gwonseon-gu, for one year.

The Suwon Agricultural Technology Center accepts applications from general citizens and assigns individual vegetable garden plots of a certain area.

The number of vegetable garden plots assigned to citizens this year is 1,500 plots at the Tapdong Citizen Farm (each 16㎡), 139 plots at Durae Garden Park (each 10㎡), 163 plots at Mulhyanggi Park (each 10㎡), and 78 plots at Youth Culture Park (each 10㎡), for a total of 1,880 plots.

Only one plot per household can be applied for. Participation is available from April to November.

The participation fee is 15,000 won for the Tapdong Citizen Farm, and free for the three parks including Durae Garden Park, Mulhyanggi Park, and Youth Culture Park.

However, chemical materials such as plastic sheeting, chemical fertilizers, and chemical pesticides cannot be used during cultivation, and participants must be able to continuously manage the vegetable garden.

Citizens who wish to participate can download and complete an application form from the '2020 Citizen Farm Vegetable Garden Experience Application Notice' posted on the Suwon City website (http://www.suwon.go.kr) under 'City News,' prepare an identification card and other supporting documents, and submit them.

Applications can be submitted in person at the Tapdong Citizen Farm Main Educational Center (155 Seodun-ro, Gwonseon-gu) or by mail (Urban Agriculture Team, Agricultural Technology Division, 45 Onjeong-ro, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon City, Postal Code 16631).

The results of plot assignment can be confirmed on the city website on March 21.

Citizens assigned a plot pay the participation fee and complete the pre-training session held in March to be confirmed as final participants in the experience.

A Suwon Agricultural Technology Center official stated, "The 'Citizen Farm Vegetable Garden Experience' is intended to promote the importance of urban ecological agriculture and provide citizens with a healthy leisure and cultural space," adding, "We will do our best to operate the program so that citizens can take a mental break at a farm in the heart of the city."

For inquiries, contact the Urban Agriculture Team at the Suwon Agricultural Technology Center (031-228-2548·2549).