[INTERVIEW] Digitization, advanced food tech to boost food security, raise farmers’ income
| Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Chung Hwang-keun speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, Feb. 9. Photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Lee Kyung-min
The government will foster young farmers, accelerate the digitization of key farming technologies and make hefty investments in food tech industries, in a coordinated measure to elevate the traditional, labor-intensive industry into a new high-tech sustainable growth driver, the agriculture minister said Monday.
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Chung Hwang-keun said talented young people will be provided with a comprehensive government assistance package to gain expertise in smart farming, mostly through in-depth education and training programs as well as financing and improved living conditions.
“Young people are the future of Korea’s farming,” he said in an interview with The Korea Times, Feb. 9.
Older farmers engage in growing agricultural products, after which their young counterparts add value throughout processing and distribution thereafter.
“Only about 1.2 percent of 2.2 million farmers are aged 39 and younger in the rural areas where about 10 million people live,” he said. “The staggeringly low number should be pushed up through immediate policy support. Otherwise, the rapidly aging population in the nation’s remote areas will shrink to a point beyond repair over the next 10 years.”
Chief among the policy packages is the government giving young farmers three years’ worth of income, in a move to underpin their sustained commitment in an otherwise shunned industry.
The program has about 4,000 young participants this year, twice that of last year. Most of them are from metropolitan areas, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
They grow fruits and vegetables in smart farms, operated in part and oftentimes by fully integrated AI-mediated technologies. Four smart farms are operated nationwide and large lots of land are rented to them through government-guaranteed programs. A low-rate mortgage will help them settle there with groups of people their age, enabling them to start a family in a stable environment. The government will build childcare centers and education facilities as well as places where parents and their children can spend time learning, socializing, playing, and drawing for fun.
“The policy should be about helping them plan a hopeful future. They can then expand their businesses and thrive further to elevate the entire industry with a sense of gratefulness,” he said.
Korean strawberries popular abroad
Among Korea’s agricultural produce gaining plenty of popularity are strawberries, according to Chung.
According to the Rural Development Administration, a ministry-affiliated research and agriculture promotion agency, the market share of Korea-produced strawberries stood at 96 percent in 2021. It is a rapid spike from 61.1 percent in 2010. The remarkable achievement came in less than 20 years since locally produced strawberry varieties were outnumbered by imported ones. Korea’s global market share was about 9.2 percent in 2005 when over 90 percent of strawberries were imported.
“Korean strawberries are loved by people around the world,” Chung said. “Many Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries say they are simply in love with Korean strawberries.”
The fresh produce is best a week after harvest, a reason why they are transported by cold-chain logistics aircraft.
Korea signed a $56 million (70 billion won) worth of smart farming in an export contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently, the minister said, through which, the sales of seeds and seeding technologies are provided. Also showing keen interest in inking similar deals are Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Demo smart farms are being built in Australia, similar to ones already in existence in Vietnam and Kazakhstan. Cambodia and Indonesia will each have one soon as well.
“Middle Eastern countries want smart farms that are small in size compared to ones in the U.S., or in the Netherlands, for example, to closely manage,” he said. “AI-powered smart farming technologies will help the industry make a notable jump, buttressed further by autonomous driving and automated technologies to operate pesticides vehicles, fodder trucks and milking.”
Enhancing food security
The government plans to raise the country’s food self-sufficiency rate to 55.5 percent by 2027, up from 44.4 percent in 2021, the minister added.
The vision will be enabled by increased output of locally grown grain, including wheat and beans. Rice is the only grain that has a self-sufficiency rate of 84.6 percent as of 2021. The figures will be increased to eight percent for wheat and 43.5 percent for beans. Korea imports 80 percent of other crops.
Chung chairs a special task force set up to help Korea achieve $10 billion in agricultural exports this year, as underpinned by the nurturing of strong local players. The goal is to achieve $15 billion in exports by 2027.
Cooperation with grain-producing peers will be strengthened, an objective vital to cement Korea’s leadership in overseas development assistance (ODA) programs, whereby trust-oriented partnerships can be fortified with a greater number of trade partner countries in Central and South America.
Global bodies where Korea can expand its presence include the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a multilateral discussion and economic initiative, through which Korea’s efforts to promote global food security and sustainable growth will bear results.
