Smart Farm Standardization Expands Its Territory to Open Fields with ‘Vouchers’… Conditions for Successful On-Site Adoption

[Korean Agricultural Technology Newspaper = Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Korea’s smart agriculture is breaking through the chronic barrier of 'lack of interoperability between equipment(不通)' and launching a full-scale expansion of standardization. The Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency(President Lee Seok-hyeong) has decided from this year to expand the scope of standardization, which had been limited to facility horticulture and livestock, to the open-field sector as well, and to introduce a company-tailored 'voucher(voucher)' method, raising expectations among the agtech industry and farmers. However, field experts advise that beyond the quantitative expansion of standard specifications, ensuring ease of operation for elderly farmers and verifying the actual profitability(ROI) for adopting farms must proceed in parallel for a true 'standardization ecosystem' to take root.

▲Beyond facilities·livestock to 'open fields'…National standards expanded to 64 equipment types=Until now, agricultural sites have suffered major inconvenience in maintenance and operation due to the lack of interoperability standards among smart farm equipment from different manufacturers. When a specific part broke down, the entire system often had to be replaced, or smart functions were often only half-realized because data compatibility between devices was lacking.

To reduce this confusion in the field, on April 17 the agency held a launch event together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the ‘Smart Farm Information and Communications Technology(ICT) Equipment National Standards Expansion Support Project’. The biggest change in this year’s project is the significant expansion of the support scope. Moving away from the previous focus on facility horticulture·and livestock, it now includes open-field equipment used in paddies and fields, such as watering devices and rotary sprinklers(sprinklers), as subjects for national standard application. Accordingly, the number of supported equipment types has increased to a total of 64.

The 40 companies participating in this year’s project will develop and distribute equipment and services applying national standards, serving as a catalyst for expansion in the field.

▲'From supplier-centered' to 'demand-tailored vouchers': a structural shift=The 'voucher(voucher)' method introduced this year is also a notable change. Breaking away from the previously uniform support method, it was designed so that participating companies can directly choose the areas they need support in according to their growth stage and circumstances, such as prototype development, field testing, and distribution.

At the launch event, Kim Yong-ho, head of the agency’s Smart Agriculture Division, said, “There are many voices from the field saying that low compatibility between equipment creates great difficulties in repair and management when breakdowns occur,” adding, “Going forward, we will swiftly apply standard specifications by equipment type and spare no effort in providing field-oriented support so that farmers can operate their farms stably and efficiently.”

Attention is focused on whether the expansion of this standardization project will become a signal flare for resolving the structural contradictions of Korea’s domestic agtech industry.