The Rural Development Administration(RDA) is the central government organization responsible for extensive agricultural research and services in Korea. In the past, RDA helped Korea to achieve self-sufficiency in rice and other staple food through dissemination and promotion of high-yielding cultivars and improved cropping technologies, and made a remarkable progress in fresh vegetable production by introducing year-round cropping systems in greenhouses. Furthermore, RDA contributed greatly to the improvement of the rural environment and nurturing new farmers.