Nation's First Advanced ICT Technology 'Apple Smart Farm' Unveiled... 1ha Established in Andong

AI Camera and Recirculation System Equipped

Gyeongbuk Province "50% Reduction in Pest Damage"

On the 9th at 4 p.m., Gyeongbuk Province will unveil the nation’s first apple smart farm model, a pilot project established on a 1-hectare scale in Odae-ri, Imha-myeon, Andong City, attended by Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Kwon Ki-chang, Mayor of Andong, related organizations, and local farmers.

The apple smart farm established in Odae-ri, Imha-myeon, Andong City, is another ambitious project by Gyeongbuk Province, which is promoting a major agricultural transformation through digital-based advanced industries.

Apple Smart Farm Equipped with Cutting-Edge Science and Technology

Due to rural population decline, aging, worsening labor supply conditions, northward shift of suitable cultivation areas caused by climate change, continuous pressure from market liberalization, and rising prices of agricultural materials, the apple industry is currently facing a crisis.

Gyeongbuk Province decided to promote the smartification of the apple industry, judging that conventional agriculture relying on labor and experience has limitations in growth.

Furthermore, since smart agriculture has so far been concentrated on facility horticulture crops such as strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, the apple smart farm introduced this time is expected to create a new turning point by expanding its scope beyond indoor greenhouses to open-field crops, which occupy most of the farmland area and require much more labor.

The apple smart farm unveiled on this day is a standardized model separately established as a unit project of the ‘Andong Apple Open-field Smart Agriculture Pilot Project,’ a national public project covering a total area of 61 hectares.

On the 1-hectare site, various advanced facilities and equipment are installed, including drip irrigation and fertilization automation facilities using cutting-edge ICT science and technology, air fog systems, CCTV and other growth management systems, fine sprinkling facilities, automatic windbreak nets, thermal wind fans for disaster prevention, IT pheromone traps and AI cameras for pest and disease monitoring.

The data center and the orchard are connected via the internet, enabling a feedback system where growth information, weather data, and pest and disease data are collected, analyzed, and processed based on AI, and then provided back to the farmers.

The control system installed in the data center can operate various facilities and equipment installed in the orchard, and services such as pesticide spraying and pest and disease monitoring using advanced equipment like drones are also available.

According to the performance analysis results of the ‘Andong Apple Open-field Smart Agriculture Pilot Project,’ including the apple smart farm standardized model, productivity and commercialization rates increased by approximately 25% and 10%, respectively, while labor hours (for irrigation and fertilization) and pest damage decreased by about 54% and 50%. It is judged that costs have decreased and productivity has increased as initially expected.

Since the results have been verified, Gyeongbuk Province plans to provide farmer education and consulting through the Farmer Academy and the Korea Future Agriculture Research Institute to promote the rapid spread of apple smart farms, and support the installation of ICT convergence facilities and equipment as well as the establishment of information systems.

Additionally, by 2025, the province plans to gradually expand the application of open-field smart agriculture crops by establishing an 82-hectare garlic smart complex in Sagok-myeon, Uiseong County.

To develop a distribution-type smart orchard model suitable for individual farm orchard conditions, various demonstration studies will continue, such as operating orchards managed based on AI-analyzed and decision-making results from the data center, and orchards where farmers make decisions referencing AI analysis results, to establish standard farming technologies.

Meanwhile, the Andong Apple Open-field Smart Agriculture Pilot Project is the nation’s first nationally funded project selected, investing a total of 24.5 billion KRW over three years from 2020 to 2022 to create a smart production and distribution complex covering 61.5 hectares, including the construction of a data center and installation of demonstration complexes, making it the only open-field (apple) smart agriculture hub model nationwide.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, emphasized the necessity of agricultural transformation again, stating, “Since labor-intensive traditional agriculture cannot guarantee management efficiency, we must raise industrial competitiveness based on advanced scientific technology suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.”

The governor also added, “We will cooperate with related organizations to develop practical distribution-type models as soon as possible and support the spread of smart farms to general orchards.”

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