[Global Star K-Food]⑥ Up to 12 Crops Annually... Production Doubled Thanks to Smart Farms

"Since the introduction of smart farms, labor has been reduced to one-third, and production has nearly doubled. The growth rate has accelerated, allowing up to 12 cropping cycles per year, compared to the previous 7 to 8 cycles annually." On the 21st of last month, Kang Seong-hwi, CEO of Connecting Farm, whom we met in Geumnam-myeon, Sejong City, said this while guiding us through his greenhouse. Fresh lettuces with red and green hues filled the interior of the 150-pyeong greenhouse. There were 6,000 heads of 28 varieties of European lettuce, such as Butterhead and Batavia, which have recently become popular as diet foods, growing in neat rows.

The most noticeable feature was that the crops were grown not in soil but on cultivation beds called 'gutters.' This method is known as hydroponics. It is a way of growing crops by dissolving essential nutrients required for growth in a nutrient solution without soil. In particular, CEO Kang uses thin-film hydroponics. This method helps growth by circulating the nutrient solution within the cultivation bed so that oxygen can be supplied to the roots. The name comes from the nutrient solution forming a thin film-like layer.

Kang Seong-hwi, CEO of Connecting Farm, is introducing the crops he cultivated at his house located in Geumnam-myeon, Sejong City, on the 21st of last month.

The history of hydroponics dates back to the 1980s as a traditional method. The key point is that it is linked with smart farms to automatically control the circulation of the nutrient solution via a smartphone. CEO Kang explained, "The cultivation bed is sloped so that the nutrient solution flows down, circulating from both sides toward the central drainage outlet. When you set a timeout on your smartphone, the nutrient solution is automatically supplied and stopped."

He began full-scale adoption of the smart farm system in 2018. In the early stages of the business, he used iron cultivation beds, which were vulnerable to temperature. In summer, the nutrient solution temperature rose up to 40 degrees Celsius, hindering growth. After switching to plastic components, it prevented the temperature from rising above 30 degrees Celsius. The nutrient solution room was also automated. The system was completed to automatically mix the nutrient solution at a fixed ratio and circulate it throughout the entire greenhouse cultivation beds.

This dramatically improved work efficiency. Productivity, which used to be limited to an average of 7 cropping cycles per year, increased to as many as 12 cycles. This means harvesting is possible more than once a month. CEO Kang said, "The time from seed to seedling to maturity here used to be an average of 30 days, but now it has been shortened to a maximum of 20 to 25 days before going to market."

The support from the Youth Farmer Officer School education program, hosted by the NongHyup (National Agricultural Cooperative Federation), was a significant help for CEO Kang's success in the lettuce cultivation business. This program supports startups by providing education on crop cultivation necessary for smart agriculture, as well as sales distribution, marketing, and practical training. The government has started supporting smart farm agriculture because the related global market is rapidly expanding. According to global market research firm BIS Research, the global smart farm market size is estimated to reach $20.6 billion this year. The market size has continued to grow from $12.4 billion in 2020 to $14.6 billion in 2021, and $17.4 billion last year, with projections to reach $34.1 billion by 2026. Thanks to this, the domestic smart farm market also grew from 4.7474 trillion KRW in 2018 to 5.9588 trillion KRW last year.

Given this situation, the area of smart farm facilities in Korea is also on the rise. According to the 'Smart Farm Overseas Expansion Strategy Report' published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, as of 2021, smart farms were estimated to be installed on 6,485 hectares (ha) of horticultural cultivation area. This accounts for about 7.8% of the total domestic horticultural cultivation area of 82,810 ha. By crop type, tomatoes, strawberries, and paprika rank highest, and recently, crops like lettuce are also gaining popularity.

Mini Hydroponic Grower for Home Use

Technologies used in smart farm facilities include sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) fields, and hardware equipment, with over 90% linked to integrated control systems. About 56.7% of farms that have adopted smart farm facilities collect information and communication technology (ICT) data, with the highest application rate of 64.2% in livestock farms. In the first year of smart farm adoption in horticulture, production and shipment per unit area increased by more than 33% compared to the previous year. Labor hours were reduced by 12%, and the production of high-quality products increased by more than 34%. The use of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides decreased, resulting in reduced production costs.

However, the global technological gap in smart farms remains a challenge. Korea's smart farm-related technology is only about 75.5% compared to the European Union (EU) countries, which are considered the highest level, representing a technological gap of approximately 4.8 years. The agricultural ICT convergence technology gap is also about 4.6 years behind the United States, which has the highest level of related technology. The government plans to expand the smart farm application area in horticulture to 8,000 ha and increase the number of smart farm livestock farms to 9,000 by 2025. During this period, it also plans to train 10,000 smart agriculture specialists.

Production support: 2023 FTA Sector Education and Promotion Project