Why a pesticide lab raises honeybees and fish

31 drone-use pesticides developed for 86 pests across 15 crops

Toxicity tests on bees, water fleas and fish verify ecosystem safety

R&D budget of 2 billion to 2.5 billion won a year as climate change and aging reshape research

A pesticide laboratory raises honeybees. Water fleas and fish are also under study. The goal is to eliminate crop pests while minimizing harm to other living things. The lab also develops pesticides that can be applied by drone. As a shrinking rural workforce and shifting pest patterns driven by climate change reshape agriculture, the role of the pesticide research laboratory is evolving with it.

A researcher opens a beehive at the honeybee rearing facility of the SG Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, to check on the bees. The institute conducts toxicity tests to assess the effects of pesticides on honeybees. [Provided by SG Hankook Samkong]

The Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, is where this work takes place. Beyond testing the efficacy of pesticides, the institute examines their effects on honeybees, water fleas, fish and green algae. Researchers also conduct residue tests to measure how much pesticide remains on crops and carry out studies related to farm worker safety. Making pesticides well, it turns out, is only half the job — using them safely matters just as much.

Honeybees are the clearest example. Insects that damage crops must be controlled, but pesticides cannot be allowed to harm the bees that pollinate flowers and enable fruit to form. That is why the research institute raises honeybees directly and runs toxicity tests on them.

Microscope images of test organisms used in environmental toxicity testing at the SG Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute in Gimje, North Jeolla Province. From left: a killifish, a honeybee larva and a water flea. The institute evaluates the effects of pesticides on aquatic organisms. [Provided by SG Hankook Samkong]

Hankook Samkong received Good Laboratory Practice certification last year for acute toxicity testing on honeybee larvae. The institute plans to expand its GLP-certified capabilities to include chronic toxicity tests on both larvae and adult bees, examining not only the effects of short-term pesticide exposure but also those of prolonged exposure over time.

Labor shortages in rural areas are also reshaping pesticide development. Drone and other unmanned aerial vehicle spraying has expanded to replace the traditional method of workers carrying tanks on their backs through fields, and new products suited to these application methods are needed. Pesticides applied by hand and those delivered by drone operate under different conditions, making purpose-built formulations necessary.

Hankook Samkong has developed 31 pesticides for unmanned aerial vehicle application, covering 86 pests across 15 crops including rice. The company does not make drones, but it develops the pesticides that allow drones to do their job effectively in the field.

A drone flies over crops at the test field of the SG Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute in Gimje, North Jeolla Province. The institute develops pesticides suited for application by drone and other unmanned aerial vehicles. [Provided by SG Hankook Samkong]

Climate change has handed the pesticide research institute yet another challenge. As temperatures and rainfall patterns shift, the timing and geography of pest outbreaks are changing too. The need to address heat-tolerant pests has grown. Even farmers growing the same crops in the same locations as before may need to manage pests in entirely different ways.

The northward shift in apple cultivation illustrates the point. The northern limit of apple growing, once concentrated in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province region, has moved up to areas such as Jeongseon, Yeongwol and Yanggu in Gangwon Province. The Rural Development Administration has projected that if climate change continues, only parts of Gangwon Province will be suitable for apple cultivation by 2070. As growing regions shift, pesticide research must account for the changed conditions.

Microorganisms have also become a new area of focus. Hankook Samkong markets Alchani, a microbial-based organic agricultural material derived from Burkholderia pyrrocinia, and is working to develop additional products in this category.

About 30 researchers at the Gimje institute carry out this work. The annual recurring research and development budget runs between 2 billion and 2.5 billion won, equivalent to 1.6 to 2 percent of sales. The institute is developing 11 new products this year and is pursuing registration for seven of them.

The institute's main building covers 1,598 square meters, with a total test field area of 27,348 square meters. Experiments are conducted across formulation, environmental toxicity, biological and residue research laboratories, as well as greenhouses, an insect rearing room and a fungal culture room.

Hankook Samkong's business extends beyond South Korea. NT Co., a Vietnamese company in which Hankook Samkong has held a management stake since 2019, posted sales of 10.56 billion won last year — down 3.2 percent from the previous year but up 6.0 percent from 2023.

NT Co. sells 91 products in Vietnam, including 31 insecticides, 25 fungicides, 17 fertilizers, 11 herbicides and seven others. It works with about 150 wholesale and retail distribution partners across the country, with sales focused on the domestic Vietnamese market.

Kim Ji-hoon, director of the SG Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute, explains the current state of pesticide research and development and the institute's future research direction at the Gimje facility in North Jeolla Province. [Provided by SG Hankook Samkong]

Hankook Samkong estimates its domestic crop protection market share at 10 to 11 percent, placing it fifth in the industry. As environmental safety and new application methods grow in importance alongside raw efficacy, the scope of the company's research and development is widening accordingly.

"The pesticide research that Hankook Samkong has pursued since its founding in 1968 no longer stops at making chemicals that kill pests," said Kim Ji-hoon, director of the SG Hankook Samkong Agricultural Research Institute. "Drones spraying pesticides across the countryside, pest species and growing regions shifting with climate change, and the broader ecosystem including honeybees — all of these have become subjects of research. The changing face of a pesticide laboratory reflects the changes confronting Korean agriculture."

adastra@heraldcorp.com