Excessive tech future for Korea | Article
Chung Hwang-keun, Korea’s Minister of agriculture, meals and rural affairs has outlined how the federal government plans to assist the nation’s agriculture business to arrange for the longer term with insurance policies designed to encourage digitisation and a brand new era of farmers.
In an interview with The Korea Instances, Chung mentioned the federal government will foster younger farmers and speed up the take up of recent farming applied sciences by supporting meals know-how industries, all in an effort to revolutionise agriculture into a brand new high-tech progress business.
Creating the following era of farmers is likely one of the authorities’s high priorities, it plans to facilitate sensible farming coaching programmes and monetary assist to attempt to encourage youthful individuals to maneuver to rural areas.
“Younger individuals are the way forward for Korea’s farming. Solely about 1.2 per cent of two.2m farmers are aged 39 and youthful within the rural areas the place about 10m individuals dwell,” mentioned Chung.
“The staggeringly low quantity must be pushed up by means of speedy coverage assist. In any other case, the quickly growing older inhabitants within the nation’s distant areas will shrink to a degree past restore over the following ten years.”
One coverage contains giving younger farmers three years of earnings to assist them decide to the business. This 12 months the programme attracted round 4,000 contributors, twice as many as 2021, which the bulk coming from metropolitan areas.
These younger farmers are rising fruit and veggies on farms operated partially and, typically in full, by AI-integrated applied sciences. The federal government has pledged to assist construct companies close to these sensible farms comparable to childcare centres to assist develop group hubs and encourage younger farmers to settle,
“The coverage must be about serving to them plan a hopeful future. They will then develop their companies and thrive additional to raise the whole business with a way of gratefulness,” Chung mentioned.
Exports are one other focus in response to Chung who highlighted the expansion of the strawberry class in Korea. Korean-grown strawberries accounted for a 96 per cent share of the home market, up from simply 61 per cent in 2010. There has additionally been a comparable rise in exports.
“Korean strawberries are cherished by individuals all over the world,” Chung mentioned. “Many Center Jap and South-East Asian nations say they’re merely in love with Korean strawberries.”
Chung mentioned Korea can be exporting its know-how and famous a current US$56m contract just lately signed with the UAE to export seeds and seed applied sciences for sensible farming. Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia have additionally expressed curiosity in related offers.
“Center Jap nations need sensible farms which can be small in measurement in comparison with ones within the US, or within the Netherlands, for instance, to carefully handle,” Chung mentioned.
“AI-powered sensible farming applied sciences will assist the business make a notable leap, buttressed additional by autonomous driving and automatic applied sciences.”
Chung additionally heads a taskforce set as much as assist Korea obtain a goal of US$10bn in agricultural exports and A$15bn by 2027.
