Song Miryeong Visits Strawberry Smart Farm: "Government, Local Authorities, and Nonghyup Support Together"

Encouraging Young Farmers
and Listening to Their Opinions

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, visited a strawberry smart farm in Nonsan, Chungnam on the 12th to encourage young farmers and shared opinions on difficulties experienced in the field through a meeting. The meeting was also attended by Kang Hodong, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and officials from local governments including Chungnam Province and Nonsan City.

The farm visited that day is a small-scale smart farm producing about 3,000㎡ of Kingsberry variety strawberries. It was established in September last year using the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' Young Successor Farmer Fund (2023?2024) and Chungnam Province's Youth Self-Reliant Smart Farm Project (2023).

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (File photo)

At the site, Minister Song emphasized, "Due to climate change and aging rural populations, smart agriculture is gaining global attention," adding, "The role of young farmers is important for leading future agriculture in Korea."

Farmers from Nonsan City's smart farms also participated in the meeting and suggested ▲ systematic support for young farmers to settle in smart agriculture ▲ strengthening education and support for export items ▲ expanding the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's interest in smart agriculture.

In response, Minister Song said, "We will strive to reflect the opinions given by farmers at the meeting as much as possible in government policies," and added, "To help young farmers settle and grow stably in smart agriculture, we will operate practical, long-term training courses more effectively. After training, the government-created rental smart farms will support gaining crop cultivation experience for as short as 3 years up to a maximum of 10 years and help secure start-up funds."

Chairman Kang stated, "The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation will actively cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' smart agriculture policy by supporting 'standard smart farms' for small and medium farmers on its own, participating in government projects such as 'data-based smart agriculture support,' providing cost support for participating farmers, and expanding online and offline sales support for smart farm agricultural products."