본 연구를 하게 된 배경에는 한국은 지역적으로 중국과 인접하여, 고래로부터 직․간접으로 상호 문화를 주고 받아왔으며, 그로 인해 상호간의 문화적 차이를 느끼지 못하는 경우도 적지 않다. 그래서 중국의 학자들은 종종 한국 농업은 중국과 어떤 점에서 차이가 있느냐란 질문을 하곤 한다. 그동안 국내의 적지 않은 농업사 연구가 축적되어왔지만 그 차이를 묻는 질문에는 금방 적절한 답을 찾지 못할 때가 적지 않았다. 그것은 기존의 농업사의 연구방향이 세계사적 보편성을 밝히는데 치중하여 중세적, 근대적 사회경제적 성격을 밝히는 데는 일조했지만, 진작 한국농업의 특성과 그와 관련한 종합적으로 정리된 연구가 없었기 때문이 아닌가 생각된다. 한반도 농업의 특질은 先史시대부터 벼와 콩의 원산지였으며, 그 경작방식 또한 당시로서는 매우 선진적이었다. 그리고 중국과는 달리 朝鮮犁와 호미를 사용하여 起耕과 覆土 및 除草작업을 했으며, 무엇보다 조선의 농업은 생태 지향적이었다. 짚을 태워 온돌을 난방하고 나온 재를 人糞과 섞어 다시 田地에 시비함으로써 지력을 보전하고 농업생산력을 높였으며, 天地에 순응하며 物候나 占候를 통해 農時에 맞게 농업활동에 종사했다. 특히 水田과 旱田을 겸하여 토지이용도를 높인 것은 물론, 기상현상에도 능동적으로 대처하였다. 그런가 하면 농민들은 농사일을 상호 扶助하여 비록 小農일지라도 勞動力을 集約하고 間作 등의 복합영농을 통해 가족을 부양할 수 있었다. 그리고 이러한 조선시대의 농경방식은 오늘날까지 계승되고 있다는 점에서 한반도 농업의 특색이라고 해도 손색이 없을 것이다. 이러한 조선시대 농업이 오늘날처럼 변화된 환경 속에서 어떻게 적용될 수 있겠는가? 주지하듯 최근 농업을 둘러싼 주변의 여건이 엄청나게 바뀌었기 때문에 결코 용이한 일은 아니다. 현시점에서 농민과 농촌을 살리는 길은 건강한 농경 공동체를 회복하는 것이다. 농민들이 안정된 경제기반 위에 설 때, 農業과 生態環境을 모두 살리는 지속가능한 미래의 농업을 도모할 수 있다. 이를 위해 본고에서는 생태계의 원리를 이용하여 농경을 행하는 친환경농업을 제의한 바 있다. 그리고 人糞과 같은 자원을 시비로 재활용한 지혜나 間作을 통해 토지를 집약적으로 이용한 복합영농 방식도 조선시대 농업에서 배웠으면 한다. 이제는 단순히 이전의 방식이 아니라 이젠 과학기술을 농업에 접목시켜 친환경농업을 완성해야 한다. 이를 위해서는 일정기간 國家의 지원과 협조가 요구된다. 그것은 농업이 생명산업이며 환경산업이기 때문이다.

Farming, the most primal kind of human/nature combination, is an industry which performs production activities using farming skills and appliances. The traditional Korean farming has been suffering the serious disorganization of rural communities by rural exodus since the middle of the 1970s, when economic development plans started to become effective. The officializing of the 1994 Uruguay Round and WTO(World Trade Organization) of the following year opened up the import of agricultural products, jeopardizing any continuing cultivation of crops except for that of rice and almost exterminating the native crops like cotton and wheat. The present state of Korean farming is defined as the full dependence on import for every crop but rice. And, on the other hand, the import crops, the GMOs(Genetically Modified Organisms) laden with the excessive residue of agricultural chemicals, are threatening the life and health of the consumers. Especially, the government has not, however, been able to devise reasonable countermeasures to protect the farming of the country and secure the safety of agricultural products. One of a few hopeful signs is that citizens who have accumulated financial wealth from the economic development are now getting more concerned about health, preferring organic farming products to the imported crops as the Korean ancient phrase sintoburi(身土不二: 'The domestic farm products are the best'), and even not refraining from expressing the collective protest by citizens against the government's reckless policy of import of agricultural and livestock products. For the sustainable development of the transformed rural communities the following scenarios can be suggested: ① To contrive measures for trading fresh products at good prices and increasing mutual profit with the help of biotechnology and info- communication technology; ② To necessitate market economical changes in rural communities, by making the farming population seriously understand and take advantage of market and information; ③ Ecological farming functions as the environmental preservation itself, providing rural amenities and guaranteeing our health, that, for the success of the two projects of the sustainable development and the production of healthy agricultural products, the conversion from the growth-centered farming of the past to the environment-friendly farming of harmonious accord is indispensable.

Farming, the most primal kind of human/nature combination, is an industry which performs production activities using farming skills and appliances. The traditional Korean farming has been suffering the serious disorganization of rural communities by rural exodus since the middle of the 1970s, when economic development plans started to become effective. The officializing of the 1994 Uruguay Round and WTO(World Trade Organization) of the following year opened up the import of agricultural products, jeopardizing any continuing cultivation of crops except for that of rice and almost exterminating the native crops like cotton and wheat. The present state of Korean farming is defined as the full dependence on import for every crop but rice. And, on the other hand, the import crops, the GMOs(Genetically Modified Organisms) laden with the excessive residue of agricultural chemicals, are threatening the life and health of the consumers. Especially, the government has not, however, been able to devise reasonable countermeasures to protect the farming of the country and secure the safety of agricultural products. One of a few hopeful signs is that citizens who have accumulated financial wealth from the economic development are now getting more concerned about health, preferring organic farming products to the imported crops as the Korean ancient phrase sintoburi(身土不二: 'The domestic farm products are the best'), and even not refraining from expressing the collective protest by citizens against the government's reckless policy of import of agricultural and livestock products. For the sustainable development of the transformed rural communities the following scenarios can be suggested: ① To contrive measures for trading fresh products at good prices and increasing mutual profit with the help of biotechnology and info- communication technology; ② To necessitate market economical changes in rural communities, by making the farming population seriously understand and take advantage of market and information; ③ Ecological farming functions as the environmental preservation itself, providing rural amenities and guaranteeing our health, that, for the success of the two projects of the sustainable development and the production of healthy agricultural products, the conversion from the growth-centered farming of the past to the environment-friendly farming of harmonious accord is indispensable.

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traditional Korean farming, Sustainable Development, Legacy, ecology, excretion, organic farming techniques, intensive agriculture, environmentally friendly agriculture