Full-scale Promotion of Autonomous Agricultural Robot Demonstration with 1 Billion Won in National Funding
Application of Robotic Technology to Agricultural Production Sites... Verifying Efficiency and Productivity
Pohang City is accelerating the introduction and field expansion of smart agriculture technologies that will lead the future of agriculture.
On April 30, the city announced that Pohang City and the Sangok Smart Apple Research Association had been selected as the final participants in the "2025 Agricultural Robot Demonstration Support Project," which is organized by the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Institute of Agricultural Technology Promotion.
This project is a demonstration support initiative that aims to verify the efficiency and productivity of applying robotic technology to agricultural production sites, and to explore the potential for the early adoption of agricultural robots.
The total project budget is 1 billion won, which will be fully funded by the national government.
Following the selection, Pohang City plans to actively carry out autonomous agricultural robot demonstrations over the next five years, targeting a total of 13 hectares of apple orchards in the region, including multi-axis tree shapes, slender spindle shapes, and old orchards.
The robots to be demonstrated will consist of smart robots capable of unmanned operations such as pest control, transportation, and growth monitoring, and will undertake customized demonstration tasks tailored to each type of orchard.
The Sangok Smart Apple Research Association, which was also selected for the project, is a group of local farmers that is taking the lead in establishing future-oriented apple orchard models with multi-axis tree shapes in the region. Expectations are high that this robot demonstration project will simultaneously achieve two goals: reducing labor requirements and producing high-quality apples.
In addition, Pohang City plans to systematically support robot maintenance and technical consulting for farmers by forming a collaborative consortium with SignLab, a company specializing in robotic solutions, and the Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence, which will provide technical support.
A city official stated, "We expect this demonstration project to accelerate the field application of autonomous robots," adding, "It will serve as a turning point for smart agriculture that addresses real-world issues in agriculture, such as climate change and the aging rural population."
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