The number of flower types filed and registered in the Korea Seed & Variety Service has increased each year. Of the 7,731 crops registered to date, flowers account for 53%, with 4,123 cases. This seems to reflect the nature of flowers with their various shapes and colors, as well as rapid change in varieties. The 1980s was seen as the birth of different flower varieties, with a focus on the collection of genetic resources for each flower type, the selection of chrysanthemums and rose varieties, and culturing of trumpet lilies and carnations. The 1990s was an era of globalization and the import of agricultural products, which enabled research on new flower varieties and the mass production of seedlings to develop strategies for export. In 1995, the Seed Industry Act was implemented and the cultivation of varieties actively began with Korea joining the International Union of the Production of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV); research on breeding and producing high quality seedlings for development of flower types such as lilies, carnations, chrysanthemums, roses, hibiscus, gerberas, gladioli, herbaceous flowers, cacti, orchids, and various other novel floral crops were expanded. In particular, support measures to promote private breeding were also devised. In the 2000s, breeding technology was stabilized, which led to the development of many new varieties at national and local levels, even by common citizens. Penetration rates of chrysanthemums, roses, and orchids, whose main focus was breeding, increased from 1% in 2000 to 5.8% in 2008 and 27.3% in the 2010s. Currently, cactus dominates the world market, with domestic varieties accounting for 70% of the world’s trade, while freesias account for 60.4%, showing the high contribution of domestic small area crops. ‘Baekma’ (chrysanthemums), ‘Shiny gold’ (freesia), ‘Deep purple’ (rose), and ‘Woori tower’ (lily) are representative examples of domestic varieties bred in Korea. In the future, the development of varieties tailored to various consumers will be promoted, along with research on the production of virus-free seedlings, genome technology for enhancing breeding efficiency, and adding high value to the flower industry.

The 24 potato cultivars grown in three regions with different cultivation environments were investigated genotype and environment interaction (GEI) using the Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI), and Genotype main effect and genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot model analysis. Potato yield was highly related to environment and GEI factors but the number of tubers and dry matter content were related to the genotype factor. Potato yield was the highest in ‘Seohong’ in Gangneung, ‘Dejima’ in Jinbu area, and ‘Saebong’ in Daegwallyeong area. As a result of analysis of GEI effect between genotypes and environment, ‘Seohong’ in yield, ‘Daejima in tuber, and ‘Goun’ in dry matter content were superior and were stable. The ‘Seohong’, which has the highest yield and stability, showed promising results and can substitute the ‘Superior’ variety. The ‘Goun’ was selected as a chip potato processing grade to replace ‘Dejima’, which currently is the major processing grade. Therefore, as a result of analysis of AMMI and GGE biplot models of agricultural traits of potatoes showed that the cultivation environment has greatest influence on the yield. Therefore, proper site selection for the desired cultivar is necessary for best results. Though it is also important to select the best genotype with a high dry matter content.

Floral pattern plays a vital role in flower structure. The most basic factors that make up the floral pattern are spots and lines in Sedirea japonica. These factors were expressed in a various pattern according to their location and the type of the flower. Frequent expression pattern is higher in the left side of lateral sepal and labellum than petal and dorsal sepal. The expression type in one plant is usually very different according to right or left of sepals, flowering orders, and flowering times and in some individuals, expression pattern remained constant in all flowers. Two hybrids from the cross between Hygrochilus parishii and H. pasishii var. purpureus hybrid (Hongjadan) have shown similar flower characteristics (flower size, flower background color, and pattern distribution) to those of H. pasishii with the exception of the pattern, size, and expression of the number of spots, and pattern shape of labellum including morphology. The flower of an offspring from Hongjadan x S. japonicum (K10) showed petals and sepals without pattern, red flecks, red spot, and red sectors. The shape and back ground color of labellum were similar to those of Hongjadan and S. japonica. The results of this study will be helpful for breeding new cultivars of Sedirea japonica.