[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] LG Uplus announced on the 28th that it will launch a ‘budget smart farm’ service and provide it free of charge to strawberry farms in Sokcho struggling due to COVID-19, the rainy season, and typhoons.
The ‘budget smart farm’ unveiled by LG Uplus in collaboration with Greenlabs features a significantly lowered entry barrier for farms with an initial investment cost of several hundred thousand won. By selecting essential core sensor components necessary for cultivation management and minimizing installation equipment, and utilizing wireless communication (LTE·5G) that does not require wired network installation, the overall construction cost was greatly reduced.
The core features of this service include ▲remote monitoring of farm environment ▲weather information alerts ▲data-based crop and seasonal optimization information provision ▲online 1:1 mentoring with agricultural experts. LG Uplus establishes the basic infrastructure of the smart farm, such as wireless network quality, network equipment management, and optimized communication fee and promotion design, while Greenlabs provides customized analysis, alerts, and additional services for cultivated crops using its own solution ‘Farm Morning.’
The most notable service is the remote monitoring function that allows farm owners to check farm conditions via computer or smartphone without visiting the site. Various sensors are installed within the farm to collect data such as temperature, humidity, and soil EC (electrical conductivity), which are sent to a cloud server via LTE and 5G, enabling easy centralized viewing.
Additionally, the collected data is analyzed to provide a kind of farm management guide. It mainly informs users via smartphone of basic information such as weather data, as well as abnormal signs based on farm environment information and growth patterns. Farm owners can take real-time actions suitable for the environment even when outside, reducing the hassle of visiting the site for minor adjustments.
Furthermore, a 1:1 mentoring service connecting farms in need with agricultural experts is also provided. It helps farms access essential information such as farming logs, agricultural product prices, agricultural encyclopedias, and local event guides.
As part of efforts to support rural areas struggling due to COVID-19, the rainy season, and typhoons this year, LG Uplus and Greenlabs plan to provide this budget smart farm free of charge to the ‘Sokcho-si Eunggol Strawberry Farming Association,’ registered as a social enterprise. They aim to install and service about 20 pieces of equipment necessary for the entire setup free of charge. The two companies plan to continue discussions to apply various ICT devices and services such as intelligent CCTV and IoT access detection sensors to the smart farm service in the future.
Joo Young-jun, head of LG Uplus Future Technology Development Lab, said, "We hope that this budget service prepared by both companies will dramatically lower the entry barriers for farms to smart farms," adding, "We will actively work with Greenlabs to discover various smart farm models and enhance the competitiveness of domestic agriculture."
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