A greenhouse at Gimje Smart Farm Innovation Valley. Photos courtesy of South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Seoul: South Korea is one of the leaders in technological advancements of vinyl greenhouse farming, and taking advantage of this edge it is now seeking to share its know-how with other countries.
Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Han Hoon stated: “In smart agriculture, there is much room for cooperation between South Korea and other countries, in the fields of development and supply of new varieties suitable for local growing conditions.” In addition to this, cooperation in terms of improvement of agricultural production infrastructure is also probable.
The country has set out concrete plans to expand the use of smart farming practices across the vast spectrum of its agriculture sector. It intends to transform 30% of its greenhouses and animal sheds into smart farms by 2027.
The Vice-Minister further underlined initiatives by the Ministry to increase investments in infrastructure, technology, as well as research and development dedicated to smart farming.
The Gimje Smart Farm Innovation Valley.
The country has so far introduced the ‘Smart Farm Innovation Valley’, an industrial complex that serves as a hub “where smart farming education is provided, reliability of technologies is tested and verified, and data collection is performed.”
Furthermore, the project puts great value on nurturing young minds and highly skilled professionals in the field. It annually selects a total of 208 young participants for a 20-month training programme covering theoretical and practical training in business management at advanced greenhouses.
By 2027, the Ministry plans to build 15 complexes of the Smart Farm Innovation Valley.
Moreover, the Vice-Minister also stressed the Ministry’s efforts to narrow the technological gap with other advanced countries by planning to bolster R&D investments.
Through rapid adaptation and wide-scale implementation, South Korea has already begun reaping benefits from its smart farming practices, particularly in local agriculture and export.
“Smart agriculture has brought various positive changes to Korean agriculture and export,” the Vice-Minister told The Peninsula. These include an increase in agricultural output and farm income, as well as labour savings.
He further stated that: “Smart agriculture has also provided valued opportunities for the Korean agricultural sector to better respond to the changes in global consumer demand and market environment.”
Korean agricultural products are exhibiting competitiveness in the market, particularly in terms of prices and quality, against imported goods.
South Korea’s exports also exhibited significant improvement over the years with the export value of agri-food products increasing from $1.51bn in 2000 to $8.82bn in 2022.
Some of the products that have displayed consistent increases in export values are Korean strawberries and Korean paprika.
