Incheon's eco-friendly community garden "Ieum Tetbat" has established itself as a landmark for urban agriculture. A total of 1,595 people applied for 330 garden plots.
The Incheon Metropolitan Government held the "2026 Ieum Tetbat Opening Ceremony" at 10 a.m. on Friday at 28-1, Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu. The event began with a traditional farming ritual praying for a bountiful harvest this year, followed by a participant orientation and plot assignments.
Ieum Tetbat is Incheon's flagship eco-friendly community garden, where chemical fertilizers, pesticides and plastic mulch are prohibited. First established on idle land in Songdo-dong in 2021, residents and urban agriculture experts have built a community-centered farming culture at the site.
This year's recruitment confirmed strong public interest, with 1,595 individuals applying for citizen garden plots and 41 groups applying for community garden plots. The city expanded the program to operate a total of 360 plots, including 330 citizen plots and 30 community plots. The competition ratio for citizen plots stood at approximately 4.8 to 1.
New additions this year include heritage crop gardens and heritage rice paddies for cultivating traditional native crops, sharing gardens dedicated to community donations, and scenic crop zones. Small groups such as a "Composting Club" and a "Heritage Farmers Group" support not only crop cultivation but also interaction among participants and community building.
"Ieum Tetbat is an ecological sanctuary where residents can appreciate the value of nature and connect with neighbors amid a cityscape filled with high-rises," said Jang Se-hwan, head of Incheon's Agriculture and Livestock Division. "We will grow it into a space that realizes diverse values beyond agricultural experience, including community revitalization and climate change response."