Tobacco Farming in Muan County

By Isaiah Winters

As farmers, my in-laws are industrious people. But hard work alone doesn’t guarantee a steady income in such an unpredictable market. Fortunately, my in-laws are also highly adaptive people. So, in order to ensure steady returns on the side, they’ve recently switched to farming a cash crop with a guaranteed buyer – in this case, tobacco bought by the government. Since last fall, I’ve gotten a few opportunities to help out with the air-curing and bundling processes, which are featured in this month’s photo essay.

So far this year, I’ve helped hang heavy strands of tobacco harvested from the lowest parts of the tobacco stalk. If the internet is to be trusted, these lower sections are often referred to as the bote and volado portions, which have the lowest oil content and thus are mostly used for combustion. As you go up the stalk, you get to the seco, viso, and ligero portions, each of which increases in oil content and potency. Later this year, I’ll take a few of the higher leaves home and share them with a few friends to see how Honam-grown tobacco tastes.

The Photographer
Born and raised in Southern California, Isaiah Winters is full-time English teacher and volunteer writer, photographer, and copy-editor for the Gwangju News. More of his work can be found on Instagram @d.p.r.kwangju.