[National Assembly Audit] Of 6,603 New Technologies from RDA, 260 (3.9%) Tested on Farms…Research Results Fail to Cross the Threshold to the Field

It was found that among 6,603 new technologies developed by the Rural Development Administration over the past 5 years(2021~2025), only 260 cases(3.9%) had undergone on-farm field demonstration. During the same period, only 45 of 311 new varieties(14.5%) underwent field demonstration. At the National Assembly audit, repeated criticism was raised that the achievements of a national agricultural research institution whose budget this year exceeds 1 trillion 100 billion won are not reaching farms.

The National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee(Chair Seo Sam-seok) held a National Assembly audit on the 14th of 7 agencies, including the Rural Development Administration. Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties focused on bottlenecks in the process from the launch of research to dissemination, as well as the problem that future agricultural foundations such as physical AI·agricultural and forestry satellites are not leading to actual use in the field.
 

Two years until projects begin …farmers’ research demands reflected in only 10.6%

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Seong-beom(Seogwipo, Jeju) took issue with a structure in which research projects take 1 and a half to 2 years from demand surveys to launch. Rep. Kim cited cracking damage in Jeju’s Redhyang, a late-maturing citrus, as an example. The damage had appeared since the 2010s, but the RDA began its main project only in 2025, he said. He pointed out that in the meantime, farms had responded by changing water management, light exposure, and pruning methods on their own, and by forming their own research groups to share information. Rural Development Administration Commissioner Lee Seung-don explained that Redhyang damage was greatest in 2024, and that as the damage increased, the main project began in 2025.

According to materials Rep. Kim received from the RDA, the rate at which research demands submitted by farmers and farmers’ organizations were actually selected as projects was 10.6% over the past 5 years. ‘To be reviewed next year’ responses included, the figure is only about 26% . Commissioner Lee replied, “When I took office, I believed that if the RDA reflected field opinions only to that extent, there was no reason for it to exist” and “Things that expert groups can solve within a month will be resolved first, and matters that need to be turned into projects will be reflected even if project details must continue to be changed, raising the field-opinion reflection rate to 80%.” When Rep. Kim mentioned the ‘current-issue response projects’ introduced in 2023, Commissioner Lee explained that about 3% of the total budget is invested to start them within a month, and if continued research is needed, they are transferred to main projects.

Variety dissemination 46%·actual agricultural machinery sales 4.3%

Rep. Kim also pointed to performance at the dissemination stage. Among 311 varieties developed over the past 5 years, only 144 varieties(46%) were actually disseminated, less than half. Rep. Kim pointed out that for new technologies, the technology-transfer rate is around 39% and that among transferred technologies, the share commercialized as products was also only 39%. Commissioner Lee explained, “Normally, if a new demonstration project is created after a 5-year project ends, it takes more than 7 years” and “We are reorganizing the system so that in the 4th~5th years, when results emerge, the farms of leading farmers and young farmers are used as demonstration sites within the projects.”

In agricultural machinery research and development(R&D), circumstances suggesting inflated dissemination results were also revealed. People Power Party Rep. Lee Seong-kwon(Busan Saha A) said that the number of agricultural machines disseminated through agricultural machinery R&D, into which 29.3 billion won was invested over the past 5 years(2021~2025), was reported as 61,128 units, but this was the number of units under technology-transfer contracts signed with companies. Actual sales were 2,643 units, only 4.3% of the contracted number.

Rep. Lee pointed out that although Commissioner Lee said in a media interview that ‘technology not used in the field is failed technology’, a system to manage technologies all the way to field dissemination is still not in place. Commissioner Lee pledged improvements, saying he had instructed that existing data, which failed to reflect reality, be revised to reflect only what was actually disseminated.

Use of field services was also low. People Power Party Rep. Lee Yang-soo(Sokcho·Inje·Goseong·Yangyang, Gangwon) pointed out that the ‘Agricultural Weather Disaster Early Warning Service’, into which the RDA has invested 13.6 billion won in R&D budget for more than 10 years, has only about 50,000 subscribed farms out of 970,000 farming households nationwide. The subscription rate is 5.4%. By province, North Jeolla was at 13%, while Gangwon was 1.27%, and Jeju was 0.22%. There were also cities and counties with no subscribed farms at all.

Rep. Lee Yang-soo criticized, “It is a problem that the subscription rate is around 5% when the Rural Development Administration has invested a budget for more than 10 years to provide a service that farms can use without any out-of-pocket cost” and “It has failed to induce farmers to use it.” He added that although the RDA answered at last year’s audit that it would raise the subscription rate, almost nothing has changed.

In response, Commissioner Lee said, “There was an aspect in which farmers were reluctant to sign up because of personal information issues” and “Since last year, we have changed to a system in which staff in charge at city and county agricultural technology centers monitor weather by parcel and respond together with farms.”

55.3 billion won project-coordinating robot consultative body, no follow-up meetings after launch

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Moon Dae-lim(Jeju A, Jeju) criticized the RDA, the agency in charge of the agricultural sector, for its slow response even though the Lee Jae-myung administration has put forward the goal of becoming the ‘No. 1 physical AI nation’. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the RDA launched the ‘Ministry-Agency Joint Public-Private Cooperation Agricultural Robot Research Consultative Body’ in June and held its first meeting.

However, according to materials submitted by the RDA that day, the consultative body has not held a single meeting since then. Rep. Moon pointed out that although the consultative body is an organization coordinating projects worth 55.3 billion won as of the materials submitted that day, it has no laws, directives, or operating rules, creating a structure in which no action can be taken even if meetings are not held and it is left idle. He said the government had declared this year the first year of a major AX(artificial intelligence transformation) transition, but concerns that passive administration would hold it back this year are becoming reality.

Rep. Moon also took issue with cases among demonstration robots supported by the RDA in which robots have not been operated for long periods or after-sales service(AS) is not provided after breakdowns. He also pointed to the fact that under current law, agricultural robots are classified as agricultural machinery without separate regulations for them, and that dissemination support remains at about 10 billion won over 4 years.

Commissioner Lee replied, “We established the Agricultural Robot Division last year and secured a budget, but I acknowledge that we are insufficient compared with the pace at which things are moving” and “We will move faster and invest more budget.” Rep. Moon demanded the establishment of a legal basis and operating rules for the consultative body, a plan to apply data standards, and quarterly regular meetings.
 

Agricultural and forestry satellite launched, but analysis staff number only 7

The utilization system for the agricultural and forestry satellite, successfully launched in July, was also an issue. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Song Ok-joo(Hwaseong A, Gyeonggi) pointed out that although 116 billion won has been invested in projects related to development of the agricultural and forestry satellite, the only items that can currently be analyzed using satellite imagery are rice and napa cabbage. The RDA plans to gradually increase the number of analyzed items to 14 by 2029.

Among the 14 people working at the Agricultural Satellite Center, only 7 are data analysis research personnel. When Rep. Song asked whether about 10 more analysis personnel should be added, Commissioner Lee answered, “It is absolutely necessary.” Rep. Song added that in addition to the related 4.7 billion won budget included in next year’s government proposal, about 1 billion won more is needed to expand personnel and computer systems.

People Power Party Rep. Kim Yong-tae(Pocheon·Gapyeong, Gyeonggi) proposed expanding satellite use to production and price forecasting. He proposed creating an ‘agricultural AI forecasting system’ that links Korea Meteorological Administration weather data, RDA crop condition data, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation(aT) distribution price and import data, and Nonghyup crop disaster insurance data into one system. Commissioner Lee explained that the RDA uses satellite vegetation indices to identify crop conditions and the occurrence of diseases and pests, and to predict cultivation areas and production volume. He then said, “Ultimately, I believe such a system is needed.” Rep. Kim also called for the RDA to take charge of performance and safety testing standards for agricultural drones, standards for data collected by drones, and interfaces linked with autonomous agricultural machinery such as tractors.
 

Seed royalties around 10 billion won a year…floriculture research budget cut to one third

The issue of seed sovereignty was also raised. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Moon Geum-joo(Goheung·Boseong·Jangheung·Gangjin, South Jeolla) said that seed royalties paid overseas over the past 10 years have been around 8 billion to 11 billion won every year. In contrast, the research budget for the floriculture field plunged from 1.99 billion won in 2023 to 680 million won in 2024, and this year it fell further to 620 million won. Rep. Moon said, “R&D performance should not be evaluated only by royalty income; the effect of royalty savings from the dissemination of domestic varieties should also be reflected in performance evaluation,” and Commissioner Lee agreed.

People Power Party Rep. Kang Seung-kyu(Hongseong·Yesan, South Chungcheong) called for fundamental innovation, saying that even after the RDA spent an R&D budget of 4.8 trillion won over 6 years, agricultural income did not increase significantly. He emphasized that through AX transformation, such as managing quality with data from seed production to distribution, the RDA should become a ‘game changer’ that changes the constitution of agriculture.

In addition, committee members addressed various pending issues. Rep. Lee Seong-kwon pointed out that in connection with last year’s leak of 575,000 pieces of farmers’ personal information through an outsourcing company, the contract with the company was maintained without including measures to prevent recurrence. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-kwan(Cheonan B, South Chungcheong) proposed reviewing the standard of closing entire orchards in newly affected areas of fire blight regardless of the incidence rate, and designating pilot areas to try applying partial control. Commissioner Lee replied that after review by the quarantine deliberation committee, it would be applied on a pilot basis next year, and if there are no problems, expansion nationwide would be considered.