CRI

 [ABSTRACT]

Currently, agriculture in Korea is facing challenges such as a declining rural population and an aging workforce, leading to a reduction in agricultural labor, cultivation areas, and increasing impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events, abnormal temperatures, and rising pests and diseases. Alongside the contraction of the agricultural industry, new technologies are needed to address diverse changes such as environmental pollution, climate change, and shifting consumer patterns. Efforts are underway to solve pressing issues like pollution, soil degradation, desertification-induced food shortages, water scarcity, and carbon emissions through technological advancements.

AgTech, which reflects the technological shifts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is regarded as a key technology in agriculture that can address these issues. Its primary goal is to maximize productivity on minimal land, preparing for an era of potential food shortages.

In response, Chungcheongbuk-do (Chungbuk) has declared 2024 as the "Year of AI Science" and is actively pursuing a transition to advanced scientific and technological agriculture to adapt to the changing agricultural environment.

This study aims to analyze the agricultural cultivation environment in Chungbuk and explore strategies for transitioning to advanced scientific agriculture through the dissemination of precision agriculture in the region. In Chungbuk, 65.0% of vegetable cultivation is conducted in open fields. Given its smaller cultivation area compared to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Gangwon Province, introducing precision agriculture focused on open-field farming is more necessary than facility-based agriculture. Additionally, the region has a significant share of fruit cultivation, with apples and grapes ranking third in cultivation scale nationwide and peaches ranking second. Thus, precision agriculture technologies should prioritize these crops. Considering that Chungbuk has a lower proportion of farmers under 40 and over 70 compared to the national average but a higher proportion of farmers in their 50s and 60s, it is essential to increase the share of young farmers and foster the capability of farmers in their 50s and 60s to adopt precision agriculture. Precision agriculture, previously focused on optimal pesticide and fertilizer use, now integrates technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as satellite systems and GPS, to monitor and diagnose land conditions. Solutions are derived using AI and big data analysis, applied to farming operations, and used to inform subsequent growing seasons. As precision agriculture is a key component of smart farming, it is also applied to open-field smart farms, necessitating the development of application strategies tailored to this context. The proposed measures for promoting precision agriculture include: Disseminating precision agriculture focused on rice paddies and fruit cultivation, Creating an agricultural environment conducive to precision agriculture adoption, Providing smart agricultural machinery rentals for on-site adoption, Expanding education on precision agriculture technologies, Developing Chungbuk-specific precision agriculture technologies through collaboration among farmers, researchers, and related businesses, and Training specialized personnel in precision agriculture technologies.