RDA "60th Anniversary, Expanding Agricultural Digitalization... Promoting Food Self-Sufficiency Improvement"

Next Year's Work Plan Announcement... Commissioner Park Byung-hong "Preparing for a Sustainable Agricultural Future"

Director Park Byung-hong of the Rural Development Administration. (Photo by Rural Development Administration) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced plans to focus its capabilities on addressing current issues such as the digitalization of agriculture in response to the 4th Industrial Revolution, fostering young farmers, and improving food self-sufficiency rates, as well as establishing sustainable growth engines.

On the 27th, Park Byung-hong, head of the RDA, announced the '2022 Rural Development Administration Work Plan,' stating that through four core promotion projects, they will achieve visible results in national policy tasks and proactively respond to future environmental changes. The four core promotion projects are ▲development and field dissemination of digital technology ▲fostering young farmers and revitalizing region-specific agriculture ▲development of technologies to improve food self-sufficiency and resolve agricultural issues ▲expansion of international agricultural technology achievements and strengthening cooperation.

First, to expand the dissemination of digital agricultural technology, they plan to build an integrated data platform through the collection, analysis, and utilization of agricultural field data and develop artificial intelligence (AI) models. They will promote the digitalization of open-field agriculture such as automated rice cultivation and intelligent wheat and soybean farming to increase productivity. To implement carbon neutrality in agriculture, they will create greenhouse gas emission factors and develop carbon emission reduction technologies such as water management in rice paddies and low-methane feed development. To minimize damage from climate change, they plan to advance prediction and warning technologies based on digital technology.

To foster young farmers, a support system covering the entire cycle from technology startups to settlement will be established. They will select specialized crops suitable for regional environments for focused cultivation and also promote the spread of healing agriculture through system improvements, training of healing agriculture specialists, and installation of healing agriculture centers. They plan to improve food self-sufficiency by developing varieties and cultivation technologies for major food crops such as wheat and soybeans and expanding the cultivation of domestic rice varieties. To address rural labor shortages, they will expand the development of field agricultural machinery and develop autonomous unmanned agricultural work machines. They will disseminate eco-friendly agricultural production technologies on-site and develop and distribute integrated pest control technologies to solve agricultural field problems. Distribution management will be strengthened to prevent damage from counterfeit and substandard pesticides.

They will strengthen strategic research and development (R&D) and agricultural technology cooperation with international organizations and actively participate in the establishment of international standards on climate change and food safety. Through the Korea Project on International Agriculture (KOPIA), they will develop and disseminate agricultural technologies that contribute to the agricultural development of partner countries and strengthen their role in official development assistance (ODA) in the agricultural sector.

Director Park said, "Rural areas and agriculture are facing difficulties due to low birth rates, aging, and climate change, and the importance of agriculture has increased as food security has emerged amid COVID-19. We will do our best to create a sustainable agricultural foundation, prepare for the future, and improve the lives of farmers and the public."

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