Jeonnam Province announced on the 15th that the ‘Goheung Smart Farm Innovation Valley,’ now in its second year since completion, is playing a significant role in establishing a foundation for young farmers' independence and in the dissemination and expansion of advanced technologies.
The ‘Goheung Smart Farm Innovation Valley’ spans 33 hectares and is equipped with advanced facilities such as youth startup incubation, rental smart farms (5.76ha), demonstration sites, and a big data center.
So far, the startup incubation education program (20 months) has provided specialized training focused on smart farms, selecting 52 participants annually in April and May. Currently, 75 people from the 1st and 2nd cohorts have graduated, and 91 students from the 3rd and 4th cohorts are undergoing training.
Among them, 26 top-performing graduates have moved into the rental smart farms, generating an average annual sales of 100 million KRW per person. The rental period is three years, and the rent is affordable at 560,000 KRW per person annually.
Youth resident Won Ji-won said, “Following 2023, I cultivated tomatoes again this year and achieved sales of 150 million KRW. Based on the farming experience and seed money accumulated in the rental farm, my goal after leaving is to create the nation’s best fully ripe tomato smart farm by utilizing comprehensive smart farm fund loans.”
Kim Young-seok, Director of the Food and Horticulture Division of Jeonnam Province, stated, “We will develop the Smart Farm Innovation Valley not only to nurture young farmers but also as a hub for fostering advanced agricultural industries through demonstration and dissemination of agricultural robots and unmanned farming machinery.” He added, “We ask for much interest in the nationwide recruitment of trainees for the Smart Farm Youth Startup Incubation Center education program, which will take place around April and May.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
