Taebaek City Introduces 'Open-field Smart Farm' to Highland Agriculture... Data-driven Farming Innovation

Taebaek City Invests 24.5 Billion Won... Tackling Water Shortages and Pest Issues
Full-scale Launch of Smart Agriculture Pilot Project in Maebongsan Area
Sustainable Highland Farming Realized Through Data-driven Cultivation Systems

Taebaek City in Gangwon Province (Mayor Lee Sangho) is accelerating the establishment of a smart agriculture infrastructure to respond to the changing agricultural environment, including climate change and rural labor shortages.

Taebaek City is accelerating the establishment of a smart agriculture infrastructure to respond to the changing agricultural environment, including climate change and rural labor shortages. Photo by Taebaek City

Since being selected for the "Open-field Smart Agriculture Pilot Project" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in 2023, the city has been promoting the project in cooperation with Korea Rural Community Corporation, focusing on the highland cabbage cultivation complex in the Maebongsan area (approximately 102 hectares).

This large-scale project involves a total investment of 24.5 billion won (16.72 billion won from the national government, 2.34 billion won from the province, and 5.44 billion won from the city) and introduces advanced ICT technologies such as automated irrigation and fertigation systems, pest and disease prediction and crop growth monitoring systems, and weather and soil data collection equipment, in order to establish a data-driven precision farming system.

Through this initiative, the city expects to resolve the irrigation instability that has troubled the region each year due to agricultural water shortages, and to enable the prediction and proactive response to crop growth instability and pest damage caused by weather changes.

The city plans to further accelerate the project to complete construction by next year, in line with the end of this year's farming season. Once the project is completed, farmers are expected to directly experience the benefits of real-time, data-based crop management and improved productivity.

Mayor Lee Sangho stated, "This pilot project will serve as a turning point to overcome the structural limitations faced by highland agriculture and to create a predictable, data-based cultivation environment," adding, "Through the expansion of smart farming, we will complete a sustainable Taebaek-style agricultural model."