Naju-si Recruiting Operating Groups for 'Bitgaram Park Community Garden'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 20th that it will recruit operating organizations for the 'Bitgaram-dong Park Garden,' a representative policy to revitalize urban agriculture, from the 4th to the 18th of next month.

Applicants must be local civic groups or corporations with professional qualifications in the field of urban agriculture. They should complete the project plan posted on the city hall website and submit it to the Technical Support and Urban Agriculture Team within the recruitment period.

The park garden, established in 2015 at four locations (7,696㎡) in Bitgaram-dong, has been recognized as a healthy leisure space where citizens can experience agricultural spirit and interact in a garden within the city.

The charming garden, about 3 pyeong (9.9㎡) in size, allows all family members to participate by cultivating and harvesting various crops themselves, making healthy meals?a major advantage and attraction of the garden.

Last year, during the garden's off-season, the city completed ▲remodeling of the garden management building ▲reorganization of the agricultural machinery storage warehouse and male/female restrooms ▲installation of palm mats on the entrance road to improve convenience for urban farmers.

This year, a total of 300 garden plots will be leased in March.

In collaboration with KEPCO KDN, the city will introduce the nation's first 'open-field garden smart farm technology' in the first garden (42 plots).

Through this, they plan to establish and operate an 'open-field smart farm system' that automatically supplies water by measuring soil and irrigation information, a 'smart farm mobile service' providing real-time garden information, and a 'smart control room' with CCTV installation.

Moreover, as smart farm technology, previously focused on facility horticulture and livestock, expands to open fields, systematic garden management, labor reduction, and productivity improvement are expected.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, "We hope for much interest and participation in this recruitment of operating organizations for the park garden, which has become a place for communication and exchange among urban families," adding, "We will continue to do our best to revitalize urban agriculture to provide citizens with healthy leisure opportunities and improve quality of life."