“In the Sky, an Agriculture and Forestry Satellite; on the Ground, AI”… ‘Data-Driven Agricultural Policy’ Sets Sail

Korean agriculture is shifting its paradigm beyond mechanization and early digitalization into the era of ‘Agricultural AX(AI transformation)’, where artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite data are combined. It will innovate the instability in agricultural supply and demand, which has been swinging wildly due to the climate crisis, through data-based preemptive control rather than after-the-fact responses, and deploy voice-recognition AI and care robots in rural communities facing the threat of depopulation.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Development Administration announced key tasks for the second half of the year centered on these measures through a presidential policy briefing on the 16th, firing the starting gun for a major transformation in agricultural policy. The announcement contains a concrete roadmap for 'Agricultural AX(AI transformation)', spanning everything from the use of the agriculture and forestry satellite successfully launched on July 7 to the development of affordable AI smart farms for small and medium-sized farms and improvements in rural living services..

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, precision monitoring combining the agriculture and forestry satellite and AI … from after-the-fact measures to preemptive supply-demand management
At the core of the ministry’s policy direction is the on-site convergence of the agriculture and forestry satellite successfully launched on July 7 and AI technology. Minister Song Mi-ryeong said the ministry would accurately monitor crop output by combining satellite data with AI precision forecasting models. The aim is to work with producer groups to control cultivation area and crop growth conditions in advance and preemptively, thereby breaking with data the vicious cycle of unstable agricultural supply and demand that has repeatedly caused price crashes and spikes..

Advanced infrastructure will also be expanded. In the second half of this year, smart agriculture and livestock hubs will be significantly increased from the current 10 to 23 locations (5 open-field sites, 12 protected horticulture sites, and 6 livestock sites). In particular, for small and medium-sized farms hesitant to adopt costly smart farms, an ‘affordable AI smart farm’ model with dramatically reduced unit costs will be demonstrated within the year. In addition, 25 privately developed AI models, including harvesting and sorting robots and unmanned feed dispensers, will be commercialized immediately, and in Muan, South Jeolla, a public-private special purpose company (SPC) will be established to create a ‘K-AI Agriculture Leading Zone’ integrating cutting-edge AI-Farm facilities and an agricultural data center..
 

Expanding AI to rural living services as well…‘Village AI Teachers’ 100 to be trained
AI will permeate the daily lives of rural residents as well. The ministry will promote an ‘AI demand-responsive transportation model’ that analyzes residents’ usage patterns to operate optimal routes, and will gradually expand it to the existing transportation models in 82 county areas..

At the policy briefing that day, when President Lee Jae-myung pointed out, “In township-level areas under rural transportation measures, the population keeps shrinking, so running buses on a regular schedule seems likely to cause major waste and conflict”, Minister Song replied, “Only commuting hours will be operated on fixed routes, while at other times the service will run on a call-when-needed basis”, adding, “To improve operational efficiency, we are introducing an AI model in five counties this year, and the earlier case in Yeongam, South Jeolla, showed waiting times were cut in half while ridership actually increased”, emphasizing the policy’s effectiveness..

Other measures include introducing AI diagnosis of musculoskeletal disorders using mobile clinic buses, and ordering and delivery services for daily necessities through care robots. For elderly farmers unfamiliar with operating digital devices, 100 ‘Village AI Teachers’ will be trained to provide hands-on, field-oriented education..

Rural Development Administration, AI- and agriculture-and-forestry-satellite-data-based practical agricultural innovation gains speed
In the second half of this year, the Rural Development Administration will accelerate advanced agricultural innovation that can be felt in the field by combining artificial intelligence (AI) and agriculture and forestry satellite data. RDA Administrator Lee Seung-don said on the 16th, “We will do our utmost to produce field-level results that people can feel and to further enhance the future competitiveness of Korean agriculture based on AI and the agriculture and forestry satellite”.

The biggest attention-grabber is ‘AI Isaki 2.0’, an agriculture-specialized AI agent to be launched in September. It will integrate 17 agricultural information systems that had previously been scattered, including pest and disease diagnosis, soil environment information, and early warnings for weather disasters, and will be equipped with a voice-recognition service. Even elderly farmers uncomfortable with keyboard input will be able to simply ask questions into a smartphone and receive customized answers at a glance, from crop cultivation methods and pest-control prescriptions to farm management diagnostics..
 

Agriculture and forestry satellite successfully launched in July… 51 types of precision monitoring data to be provided in the field from next year
A full-fledged era of ‘data-driven agricultural policy monitored from the sky’ will open through Next-Generation Medium Satellite No. 4 (the agriculture and forestry satellite), successfully launched on July 7. After completing image inspection and calibration work by the end of this year, the RDA will gradually provide a total of 51 types of monitoring information from next year, including crop growth conditions, cultivation area, changes in farmland cover, and agricultural disasters. The plan is to immediately reflect this precision monitoring data in farm guidance and the establishment of supply stabilization policies. At the same time, support targets for fostering regionally specialized crops such as Seongju oriental melons while strengthening climate-crisis response will be greatly expanded from 26 to 46 crops..

Administrator Lee Seung-don promised, “Starting next year, the agriculture and forestry satellite will precisely monitor crop growth conditions, cultivation area, farmland changes, and agricultural disasters to support data-based agricultural policy”.

Rosy high-tech agricultural policy, but thorough follow-up measures are needed for it to take root in the field
The government’s vision for agriculture centered on advanced technology is a prescription that Korean agriculture, suffering the double burden of an aging population and climate change, absolutely needs. “Fundamentally, I hope support necessary for production will be expanded” (farmer Choi Hyeong-nam), “I hope investment in agricultural AI will be expanded further” (Lee Gyu-hwa, CEO of MetaFarmers) are among the field demands that this second-half work plan can be interpreted as responding to..

However, follow-up measures must support government-led technology dissemination and data-centered agricultural policy if they are to bear fruit in the field. First is a thorough verification of the economic feasibility of the ‘affordable AI smart farm’. If, in the rush to lower facility costs, durability declines or frequent breakdowns generate excessive maintenance expenses, it could lead to increased farm debt. That is why there are calls to clearly present to the field empirical ‘return on investment(ROI)’ indicators showing how much farm income actually increases after adoption..

A dense A/S network and follow-up measures for elderly-farmer-friendly accessibility are also needed. If there is a lack of on-site support networks that can immediately resolve problems when an environmental controller stops during the busy farming season or an autonomous tractor malfunctions, advanced equipment will turn into giant scrap metal. Tasks also include strengthening the capabilities of city and county agricultural technology centers and continuously improving data learning and algorithms so that the RDA’s ‘AI Isaki 2.0’ can be effectively used in the field..