Hwasun-gun Expands Smart Farm Agriculture... Strengthening Competitiveness

[Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Ji-woon] Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do is focusing on expanding the spread of smart farms as one of the strategies to strengthen the competitiveness of local agriculture.

According to the county on the 22nd, the county supports 66 smart farms (57.4 hectares), leading Korean agriculture as a hub of smart agriculture in the facility vegetable sector.

The county has been actively promoting the expansion of smart farm areas that introduce information and communication technology (ICT) convergence technologies, which are effective in increasing harvest volume, boosting income, and reducing labor.

In fact, jujube tomato farms that introduced a complex environmental control system increased their yield to 10,644 kg per 1,000㎡, raising income to 14.51 million KRW.

This was 2,742 kg (35%) more than the production of farms that did not introduce smart farms (7,902 kg), and the greenhouse management time was reduced from 180 minutes to 90 minutes per day, achieving a 50% labor reduction effect.

As of last year, there are 2,493 smart farm operating farms nationwide (1,396 hectares), increasing by 20% annually. Jeollanam-do accounts for 24.7% of the national area (396 farms, 344 hectares), and Hwasun accounts for 16.6% of Jeollanam-do (66 farms, 57 hectares).

So far, smart farms have been introduced mainly for facility vegetable crops such as tomatoes, paprika, and strawberries, with clusters intensively formed in Dogok, Cheongpung, and Neungju-myeon. Over the past five years, 537 million KRW has been invested in eight projects, including the ‘Agricultural Food ICT Convergence Expansion Pilot Project’ for facility vegetable farms, supporting 22 farms.

Since 2019, a pilot project has been promoted to create a smart farm complex for small-scale single-span greenhouse cultivation farms, supporting eight farms, 35 greenhouses, and 3.2 hectares with single-span greenhouse smart farm facilities.

This year, 100 million KRW in project funds have been secured to support smart farm facilities in more than 20 single-span greenhouses.

In the livestock sector, three projects have been promoted over the past five years, supporting six sites with 100 million KRW.

In 2017, the ‘ICT Convergence Livestock Environment Management Integrated System Construction Pilot Project’ was promoted, reducing livestock heating costs from 550,000 KRW to 325,000 KRW per 330㎡ by about 40%, lowering mortality rates from 6.3% to 3%, and reducing disease incidence from 17% to 11%, contributing to farm income.

In the fruit sector, targeting local specialty peach farms, 30 million KRW will be spent this year to promote the ‘Crop Stress-Based Open-Field Smart Irrigation System Technology Pilot Project’ at two sites (0.2 hectares).

In the special crop sector, 70 million KRW will be provided this year to one oyster mushroom cultivation farm to support smart technology that enables the production of mushrooms with uniform quality regardless of external environmental changes, with plans to expand to more than 10 sites over the next five years.

Additionally, 50 million KRW will be supported for the construction of ICT facility greenhouses for medicinal herbs, with plans to expand to eight sites within five years.

In the livestock sector, 10 million KRW in project funds have been secured to create a smart farm using ICT technology combined with rumen-inserted biocapsules to check cattle health status and predict diseases, estrus, and delivery through data analysis.

Over the next five years, ICT convergence technology projects will be promoted annually for one to two sites, targeting 100 Korean cattle or 1,000 pigs.

The role of the Smart Farm Field Support Center, installed and operated at the Agricultural Technology Center, will also be strengthened.

The center supports farming technology by inspecting and analyzing crop growth data transmitted in real time from farms with smart agricultural facilities.

A county official said, “We will do our best to become a county that leads Korea’s advanced future agriculture by expanding smart agriculture suitable for the county and promoting non-face-to-face technical support, realizing prosperous agriculture where farmers live well.”

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