RDA Expands 'Smart Farm' Integrating ICT (Comprehensive)

Establishment of Five Major Work Plans for the New Year
Comprehensive Technical Support System for Youth Farmers
Expansion of Agricultural Workforce

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Rural Development Administration (RDA) has decided to focus on expanding the dissemination of digital agricultural technologies this year and creating an environment where young people can return to rural areas.

On the 9th, the RDA announced that it has incorporated the theme of "Rural areas where people want to live, and farmers with happy lives" into this year’s work plan. To achieve this goal, it will focus on five key tasks: "Development of data-driven high-efficiency digital agricultural technologies," "Response to rural depopulation," "Improvement of food self-sufficiency rate," "Customized technology dissemination," and "Spread and expansion of Korean-style (K)-agricultural technologies."

First, it will maximize convenience, productivity, and quality improvement in agriculture by utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence (AI).

To develop high-efficiency digital agricultural technologies based on data, the RDA plans to expand data-driven intelligent farm (smart farm) technologies such as precise nutrient and moisture control and automatic pest and disease diagnosis using image information to open-field cultivation. To increase productivity of open-field crops, it will develop open-field digital-based technologies using drones, satellites, and autonomous robots.

To respond to rural depopulation, the RDA will strengthen the technological entrepreneurship capabilities of young farmers and expand the infrastructure for technology startup incubation. It will establish a comprehensive technical support system covering everything from farming initiation and startup preparation to regional settlement and growth into professional farmers, thereby creating a foundation for young people to return to agriculture.

In regions with high risk of depopulation, customized regional specialized agricultural technologies will be applied, and research will be intensified to increase consumption of regionally led agricultural products that combine local specialties and food culture.

Developing innovative technologies to increase the food self-sufficiency rate is also a major task. Functional wheat varieties suited for specific uses such as 'Hwanggeumal' and 'Opri' and barley varieties to enhance added value will be developed.

Additionally, domestically bred rice varieties tailored to regional conditions and consumer demands will be expanded to replace foreign rice varieties. For field crops, efforts will be made to actively develop mechanization-optimized varieties such as the 'Miryang 361' soybean. This soybean has pods positioned high on the plant, making it suitable for mechanical harvesting and resistant to flood damage.

The pesticide safety information system will be improved to allow easy access to pesticide sales information via smartphones. Pesticide sellers will be able to input sales information through mobile phones and manage traceability using barcodes. A function to calculate pesticide application amounts by crop type will also be added.

Demonstration research will be promoted to develop hybrid heat pump systems suitable for agricultural facilities such as mushroom cultivation by utilizing new and renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Operating heat pumps using hybrid heat sources such as geothermal, solar thermal, hydrothermal, and waste heat can reduce carbon emissions.

Along with this, related technologies will be developed to enable the use of green hydrogen in agricultural facilities.

An RDA official stated, "From this year, we will promote the development of foundational technologies for low-carbon energy transition in the agricultural sector over the next five years," adding, "We plan to conduct research on hydrogen fuel cell agricultural machinery development and performance evaluation in collaboration with research institutes, companies, and universities that possess hydrogen fuel cell technology."

Globalization of Korean-style (K)-agricultural technologies is also a task for the RDA. It will strengthen digital agriculture cooperation not only with technological powerhouses such as Germany, Japan, the United States, and Canada but also with international agricultural research organizations and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a pilot application of desert rice cultivation technology based on K-agricultural technology will be conducted, along with research to expand the cultivation area on a large scale.

Heo Tae-woong, Administrator of the Rural Development Administration, said, "By developing and disseminating field- and user-centered digital agricultural technologies, we will do our best to create 'rural areas where young people want to return and live' and improve the lives of farmers and the public."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.