[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The Foundation for Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Transfer is revamping the '2021 Agricultural Technology Commercialization Support Project' and recruiting participating companies to revitalize the agri-food technology market and foster leading technology commercialization companies.
Started in 2011, the Agricultural Technology Commercialization Support Project is designed to support the commercialization of research and development (R&D) outcomes transferred through the Rural Development Administration, local rural development institutions, and the foundation, or excellent technologies owned by farmers and agri-food industry entities. The foundation operates the project using a 'full-cycle support program' that assists from patent creation to prototype production, product process improvement, market development, and export support.
From next year, to expand support for public R&D outcomes in the agri-food sector and companies with excellent technologies, the project will be divided into public R&D commercialization support and private R&D commercialization support, with a government grant of 12.2 billion KRW invested to support about 120 tasks. Public R&D commercialization support targets agri-food industry entities and agricultural management bodies that have received technology transfers through the Rural Development Administration, local rural development institutions, or the foundation and maintain them. Private R&D commercialization support targets agri-food industry entities and agricultural management bodies that have independently developed and possess excellent agri-food related technologies.
The support includes prototype production using transferred or self-developed technologies, product reliability evaluation, certification, and standardization. It will be implemented as short-term commercialization support (1 year, up to 100 million KRW per company) and strategic commercialization support (up to 3 years, 900 million KRW).
Over the past decade from 2011 to 2020, the foundation has supported about 112.5 billion KRW for 1,125 projects, playing a key role in helping agricultural companies achieve technology commercialization in the agri-food sector. As of last year, the supported products have generated sales of 128.7 billion KRW and created 1,824 new jobs.
Representative examples include ▲Otgane, which manufactures non-toxic lacquer products ▲TwoM Bio, which produces eco-friendly insecticides ▲Baeksul Chimhyang, which makes cleansing cosmetics using peanut sprout ingredients. Otgane achieved product sales of 440 million KRW and created 33 jobs through support for prototype development, market support, and product specification and process improvement. TwoM Bio achieved product sales of 1.46 billion KRW through support for prototype development, overseas market entry, and product specification and process improvement. Baeksul Chimhyang also received support for overseas market entry, establishing a foothold for global expansion.
The application period for the 2021 Agricultural Technology Commercialization Support Project runs for about a month until the 30th of this month, with the final lead organization selected through a three-stage evaluation process including document review, face-to-face, and on-site evaluations. For more details on application methods, eligibility, preferential and deduction criteria, please refer to the Rural Development Project Comprehensive Management System and the foundation’s website announcements.
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