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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School HOME GARDENS AS AGROBIODIVERSITY SITES AMID AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATIONS IN JEJU, KOREA (1960–2016) A Dissertation in Geography by Yooinn Hong 2021 Yooinn Hong Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2021 The dissertation of Yooinn Hong was reviewed and approved by the following: Karl S. Zimmerer Professor of Geography Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Brian King Professor of Geography Erica A. H. Smithwick Professor of Geography Leland Glenna Professor of Rural Sociology Cynthia Brewer Professor of Geography Head of the Department of Geography ii ABSTRACT Geographic research has focused on identifying spaces of agrobiodiversity amid rural changes that may threaten continued cultivation and the future of farmer-based evolution. This dissertation investigates home gardens as important agrobiodiversity sites in rural Jeju, South Korea, where land and livelihoods have been fundamentally transformed over the past few decades as a result of widespread adoption of commercial cropping and livelihood diversification associated with agricultural modernization and tourism development. The dissertation draws upon and contributes to geographic literature in three broad areas: the environment–society geographical investigations of home gardens as agrobiodiversity sites, the political ecology investigation of the state’s role in agrarian development and modernization, and geographies of agrarian transformations, especially agricultural commercialization and livelihood diversification. The findings demonstrate how local people have re-configured home garden agrobiodiversity in response to agrarian changes. The research also tests several environment–society hypotheses currently under debate regarding factors influencing home garden cultivation practice and agrobiodiversity. Three broad sets of questions guide the dissertation’s research. These are: (1) which types and categories of plants are cultivated in contemporary rural home gardens (in 2015), and which household and community factors, especially those related to the locale’s diversified livelihoods, influence the plant diversity and composition of home gardens? (Chapter 2); (2) how did farmers use home gardens as agrobiodiversity sites amid state-led agricultural commercialization and adoption of improved crops and crop varieties (1960–1980), and what do the uses of home gardens reveal about the opportunities and risks that such agrarian transformations presented to smallholders? (Chapter 3); and (3) how do agrarian transformations (agricultural commercialization and livelihood diversification) affect the local land use and land cover, and iii how do local people adapt to the changes in terms of ethnobotanical plant use (1972–2016)? (Chapter 4). The dissertation has three major findings. First, despite the challenges posed by agricultural commercialization and livelihood diversification, Jeju home gardens have maintained their identities as food and medicinal plant production sites. Their provisioning function continues to be important for a portion of the population, including geographically isolated communities and older people. Second, the successful adoption of citrus as a cash crop was facilitated by the crop’s high spatial compatibility with the local farming system. This compatibility resulted from an interplay between the availability of marginal lands in the farming system, the region-specific state interventions that were supportive of farmer autonomy, and crop characteristics, rather than the inherent trait of a crop alone. Third, the home gardens functioned as a refuge site for wild plants perceived to have become unavailable in the wild but with value to local people. Such wild plant incorporation in home gardens was more prominent in villages with a higher proportion of wild and semi-wild land cover, indicating that such villages allow greater human–nature engagement, ensuring the continuity and spread of knowledge and value of the plants among the locals. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction to home garden agrobiodiversity, role of the South Korean state in agricultural development, and agrarian transitions ............................................ 1 1.1 Introduction and overview: Smallholder agriculture, agrobiodiversity, and home gardens amid improved crop adoption and livelihood diversification since the 1960s .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Themes addressed in this dissertation and related geographical literature ............... 3 1.3 Structure of this dissertation ..................................................................................... 7 1.4 Research objectives and questions ............................................................................ 8 1.5 Case study focus ....................................................................................................... 10 1.6 Methodological overview ......................................................................................... 11 1.7 General introductions to chapters 2–4 ...................................................................... 16 1.8 References ................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2 Cultivated plant diversity in home gardens of Jeju, South Korea, and its determinants amid pronounced livelihood diversification ..................................... 26 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 26 2.2 Study area and methods ............................................................................................ 28 2.2.1 Characteristics of the study area and the status of livelihood diversification ................................................................................................. 28 2.2.2 Study design: Crossed design (four subregions × three villages) ................... 30 2.2.3 Data collection................................................................................................ 32 2.2.4 Data analysis: Methods and hypotheses ......................................................... 33 2.3 Results ...................................................................................................................... 35 2.3.1 Characteristics of the sampled households and the rural population in Jeju: Differences between households with and without home gardens ........ 35 2.3.2 Characteristics and management of home gardens in Jeju ............................. 35 2.3.3 Diversity and composition of cultivated plants in Jeju home gardens ........... 38 2.3.4 Geographical variation of diversity, abundance, and composition of cultivated plants in Jeju home gardens ........................................................... 40 2.3.5 Household-level factors affecting the diversity and abundance of plants cultivated in home gardens ............................................................................. 43 2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 45 2.4.1 Plant cultivation in Jeju home gardens and links to rural demography and livelihood changes .......................................................................................... 45 v 2.4.2 Impact of geographical location on agrobiodiversity in home gardens .......... 47 2.4.3 Deskilling and its impact on agrobiodiversity in home gardens in Jeju ......... 48 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 50 2.6 References ................................................................................................................ 52 Chapter 3 Regionally divergent roles of the South Korean state in adopting improved crop varieties and commercializing agriculture (1960–1980): A case study of areas in Jeju and Jeollanamdo ................................................................................ 58 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 58 3.2 Methods .................................................................................................................... 60 3.2.1 Study areas and case studies ........................................................................... 60 3.2.2 Data collection and analysis ........................................................................... 62 3.3. Results ...................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.1 Agrarian background and agricultural policies of South Korea in the 1970s .............................................................................................................. 64 3.3.2 Grain production systems of South Korea: Cases of paddy rice and other major grains ...................................................................................................