• A Challenge to the Monolithic Japanese Seedbed Treatment Market

• Can be installed on domestic rice transplanters
• Ahead of product launch next year
• Expectations are rising for alleviating farm household inconveniences.
  

“We will bring about a change in the domestic seedbed treatment market, which is dominated by Japanese products.”

This is the ambition of Park Beom-ho, CEO of Hosan Vision, ahead of the launch of a rice transplanter-mounted insecticide and disinfectant sprayer. According to Hosan Vision, a precision agricultural machinery company, the insecticide and disinfectant sprayer, also known as a “seedbed treatment sprayer,” is a device that simultaneously sprays insecticides and disinfectants onto seedbeds during transplanting. Currently, Japanese products dominate the seedbed treatment sprayer market. Hosan Vision is the first domestic company to enter this market with domestic technology. This explains CEO Park’s anticipation for this “new change.”

The insecticide and disinfectant sprayer currently under development by Hosan Vision can adjust the spray radius and amount of pesticide from level 1 to 27 with a single remote control, and it offers precise control in increments of ±2g. Hosan Vision claims that the insecticide and disinfectant sprayer reduces the manual burden on workers and minimizes pesticide loss. Hosan Vision’s analysis shows that actual farm trials have proven both economic efficiency and work efficiency, reducing pesticide use by 15% and labor by over 20% compared to previous models. Each nozzle is connected to the planting section of the rice transplanter, ensuring even application of pesticides and fungicides throughout the entire seedling bed. This also reduces early-stage pest damage. Hosan

Vision’s insecticide and fungicide sprayer reflects the needs of farmers. Conventional practice typically involves manually spraying pesticides onto the seedbed before transplanting. This not only leads to uneven application of pesticides, but also requires manual labor, which is cumbersome and unhealthy. Furthermore, most seedbed treatment sprayers are Japanese-made, making them difficult to install on domestic rice transplanters. Farmers have long advocated for a domestically produced seedbed treatment sprayer.

Hosan Vision will be the first company in Korea to develop a herbicide sprayer in 2023. Before that, it was the first domestic company to launch a side-row fertilizer spreader, and it currently holds the number one market share. The product that applied Hosan Vision’s technology is an insecticide and fungicide sprayer, and Hosan Vision stated that this is the first case made with domestic technology.

Manager Do Hyeon-dae, who is involved in the development of the insecticide and fungicide sprayer, said, “In the field, people say that herbicide sprayers are optional, but insecticide and fungicide sprayers are essential. However, since the market is only made in Japan, farmers who use domestic rice transplanters say it is difficult to install a sprayer that can spray pesticides at the same time as transplanting.” He continued, “Hosan Vision has experience in making side-row fertilizer spreaders and herbicide sprayers, so we developed a product that can spray pesticides without obstruction by applying our 20 years of ventilation transport technology to a design.” Manager Do Hyeon-dae added, “The product can adjust the pesticide spraying speed according to the transplanting speed through its own sensor, so it can spray pesticides evenly regardless of the speed of the rice transplanter.”

Hosan Vision plans to launch its insecticide and disinfectant sprayer in earnest in 2026. Attention is focused on whether the company can secure competitiveness as a domestically produced product in the seedbed treatment market, which is currently dominated by Japanese products.

CEO Park Beom-ho stated, “Just as the initial herbicide sprayer was created with the idea of ​​helping farmers farm safely, this insecticide and disinfectant sprayer is no different. By suppressing pesticide dispersion and minimizing farmers’ respiratory exposure, a ‘healthy working environment’ is possible.” He emphasized, “To help farmers understand, we are renaming the seedbed treatment sprayer to an insecticide and disinfectant sprayer. We tested the product by planting rice with farmers in Imsil, Gunsan, and Jangsu, North Jeolla Province, from April to June this year during the transplanting season. The product is about 90% complete, and we plan to improve usability and launch a complete product in the future.”

Source: Korea Agricultural and Fishery News (http://www.agrinet.co.kr)