Climate change threatens South Korea's popular cabbage dish Kimchi

South Korea's famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change: Scientists, farmers and manufacturers say the quality and quantity of the Chinese cabbage pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures.

Chinese cabbage thrives in cooler climates and is typically grown in mountainous regions where temperatures previously rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) during the main growing season in summer.

Studies show that warmer weather caused by climate change is now threatening these crops. To the point that in South Korea, increasing heat may one day make it impossible to grow Chinese cabbage.

“We hope these predictions do not come true,” said plant pathologist and virologist Lee Young-gyu.

“Cabbage likes to grow in cool climates and adapts to a very narrow temperature range,” Lee said. “The optimal temperatures are between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius.”

In the fields and in kitchens – both commercial and private – farmers and kimchi makers are already feeling the change.

kimchi

Spicy, fermented kimchi is made from other vegetables such as radishes, cucumbers and spring onions, but the most popular dish remains cabbage-based.

Describing the effects of higher temperatures on the vegetable, Lee Ha-yeon, appointed as a kimchi master by the Ministry of Agriculture, said: “The heart of the cabbage goes bad and the root becomes mushy.”

“If this continues, we may have to do without cabbage kimchi in the summer,” said Lee, whose title her contribution to Eat Culture.

Data from the State Statistics Service show that the area under cultivation for upland cabbage last year was less than half what it was 20 years ago: 3,995 hectares compared to 8,796 hectares.

According to the Rural Development Administration, a government agricultural think tank, climate scenarios predict that agricultural land will shrink dramatically to just 44 hectares over the next 25 years and that cabbage will no longer be grown in the highlands by 2090.

The researchers cite higher temperatures, unpredictable heavy rainfall and pests that are more difficult to control in warmer and longer summers as reasons for the decline in crop yields.

A fungal infection that causes plants to wilt is particularly problematic for farmers because it only becomes visible shortly before harvest.

Climate change is compounding the challenges for South Korea's kimchi industry, which already struggles with cheap imports from China that are mostly served in restaurants.

Customs data released on Monday (Sept. 2) showed that kimchi imports rose 6.9% to $98.5 million through the end of July this year. Almost all of the imports came from China, representing the highest value ever for the period.

Climate-controlled storage

So far, the government has relied on massive climate-controlled storage to avoid price spikes and shortages. Scientists are also working hard to develop plant varieties that can grow in warmer climates and are more resistant to major fluctuations in rainfall and infections.

But farmers like 71-year-old Kim Si-gap, who has worked his entire life in the cabbage fields of the eastern Gangneung region, fear that growing these varieties would be more expensive and would not taste quite right.

“When we heard the reports that the time would come in Korea when we would no longer be able to grow cabbage, it was both shocking and sad at the same time,” Kim said.

“Kimchi is something we absolutely have to have on the table. What will we do if that happens?”