An Analysis of Care Farm Status as Basic Data for the Quality Management of Agro-Healing Facilities

Abstract

Background and objective: This study was conducted to identify the current status of domestic agricultural business operations related to the design and business model of care farms in order to manage quality for the certification of excellent Agro-Healing Facilities (AHFs) that meet the needs of the times given the increasing demand for agro-healing.Methods: An online survey was conducted of 170 agro-healing business entities nationwide, and the collected data were frequency-coded using SPSS Ver. 25. Chi-square was conducted for frequency analysis and significance was tested by one-way ANOVA.Results: For the type of business, individual businesses were the most common (118 businesses), and for the total sales of the business, 30 million won to less than 100 million won was the most common (57 businesses. For the total number of employees, businesses with 2 workers were the largest group (35.9%). In terms of the qualification standards for the CEOs and employees of care farms, 152 employees (89.4%) had completed education in agro-healing. In terms of the land use status of care farms, 141 individual businesses (82.9%) owned lands, and the average land area was 123,626.05 ㎡ for farmland, 178,195.98 ㎡ for land, and 62,511.51 ㎡ for plant cultivation area. The most frequently planted plant was sweet potatoes, and the least planted was plum. For functional plants mainly used in the programs, vegetables were the most common, followed by flowers, fruit trees and landscaping plants, special and food crops, and herbs. A non-parametric χ² test of all items was statistically significant (<i>p</i> < .001).Conclusion: The AHF certification scheme, which will be implemented from the end of June 2024, will select excellent facilities from among existing AHFs to provide correct information to the public and lay a foundation that will support the spread of sustainable agro-healing. It is expected that this study will provide useful basic data for establishing care farm business models and seeking future direction for care farms.