RDA Takes Center Stage in Agricultural Diplomacy with ‘Green Bio and AI Platform’

[Korea Agricultural Technology News=Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] South Korea’s agricultural research and development (R&D) capabilities are shining on the global stage. Korea-China agricultural technology exchanges, which had been halted for some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and international circumstances, have dramatically resumed after six years. In addition, the newly appointed Dutch minister responsible for agriculture and fisheries, from the world’s second-largest agricultural export nation, visited the Rural Development Administration in person to learn about Korea’s agricultural artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This suggests that Korea’s advanced AgTech is no longer confined to domestic use alone, but is beginning to be recognized as a key solution to global challenges such as climate change and the food crisis.

▲Revival of the Korea-China agricultural technology alliance after 6 years, with ‘green bio’ as the key agenda= On the 21st, the Rural Development Administration (Administrator Lee Seung-don) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) held the “24th Korea-China Agricultural Technology Cooperation Planning Meeting” at CAAS in Beijing, China.

Planning meeting exchanges between the two countries had effectively been suspended since 2020, but they reopened after six years, backed by the momentum of the declaration made at the Korea-China summit in January this year designating this year as “the first year of full restoration of Korea-China relations.”

At the meeting, RDA Vice Administrator Kim Sang-kyung and CAAS Vice President Sun Tan attended as chief representatives of each side, shared the latest research trends in agricultural technology, and signed the final agreement.

The core future growth engine selected by both sides is “green bio.” The two institutions agreed to combine their advanced technological capabilities to jointly respond to common challenges facing both countries, including climate change, the food crisis, pests and diseases, and livestock epidemics.

Vice Administrator Kim Sang-kyung emphasized, “This planning meeting, reopened after six years, is a turning point that opens a new chapter in Korea-China agricultural technology cooperation,” adding, “We will do our utmost to work closely together in key areas such as green bio and advanced breeding to drive agricultural development in both countries and ensure that farmers receive tangible benefits.”
 

▲Agricultural powerhouse Netherlands focuses on Korea’s ‘digital transformation of agricultural R&D’= On the same afternoon, a delegation led by Minister Silvio Erkens of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, who chose East Asia as the first overseas destination after the launch of the new Dutch government, visited the RDA headquarters in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

The visit took place after the Dutch side expressed its desire to benchmark the structure and operational technology of “AI Isaki,” an AI platform built by the RDA to connect R&D outcomes. The RDA explained how it standardized vast, previously fragmented agricultural research data and built them into AI training datasets, and drew attention by directly demonstrating its intelligent decision-support service.

The Dutch delegation then reviewed the operation and utilization system of Korea’s first satellite for agricultural and forestry observation, scheduled for launch this July (Next-Generation Medium Satellite No. 4), and toured a phenotyping research building that turns the morphological and physiological characteristics of horticultural crops into big data, experiencing Korea’s digital technological capabilities firsthand.

Minister Silvio Erkens showed strong interest in sharing phenotypic data on horticultural crops and said, “I have once again confirmed that Korea’s digital agricultural technology is world-class,” adding, “It is very impressive that the R&D outcomes of the Rural Development Administration are immediately converted into industrial value through an AI platform.”