Friends Tried to Stop Me From Dropping Out, Now They Envy My Stable Life... Smart Farm Built With 340 Million Won Support [FTA That Changed Agriculture] ⑥

Seunghyun Kim, CEO of Smart Farm
"Are you asking if I do smart farming for convenience?
It's to grow crops better"
Muhyun Huh, CEO of Smile Farm
"My classmates say,
'You're the most successful among us'"

CEO Heo Muhyun quit university when he started a smart farm, but he has no regrets. He said that now his life is more stable and his income is better than his friends working at large corporations, adding, "Among my schoolmates, they envy me the most, saying 'You are the most successful.'"

"When I started a smart farm in Namwon after working in interior design in Seoul, the question I got most often was, 'Are you running a smart farm because you want to farm easily?' Of course, running a smart farm is less physically demanding than growing lettuce in open fields or conventional greenhouses. But the more important reason for running a smart farm is not 'easy farming,' but 'farming better.'" (Seunghyun Kim, CEO cultivating salad lettuce in Namwon)

On November 25, I visited a salad lettuce farm in Namwon, Jeonbuk. This smart farm was established with support from the "Smart Farm ICT Convergence Expansion Project," a domestic supplementary measure for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). CEO Seunghyun Kim (51), who grows salad lettuce, did not start out as a farmer. After running an interior design business in Seoul for about 20 years, he decided to return to farming. From 2008, he received five years of training at the Agricultural Technology Center and other institutions. During this training, he learned about the FTA domestic supplementary measures and received 78.54 million won in support, which he used to set up the smart farm.

A view of the European lettuce smart farm operated by CEO Seunghyun Kim in Namwon, Jeonbuk. Photo by Sangdon Joo

Kim explained, "I invested a total of 1.4 billion won to purchase a 4,298-square-meter (about 1,300 pyeong) plot of land and built smart farm facilities on 3,636 square meters (1,100 pyeong) of it." He added, "Through the Smart Farm ICT Convergence Expansion Project, I installed an 'environmental controller,' which serves as the brain of the smart farm."

The environmental controller is a device that measures and controls temperature, humidity, light intensity, wind speed, and carbon dioxide both inside and outside the smart farm. It can also operate ventilation fans, roof windows, side windows, and shading and thermal curtains. The sensors installed in the smart farm monitor various parameters, and based on pre-set values, the system automatically controls the environment within the smart farm.

While Kim was explaining the various facilities of the smart farm, the interior suddenly became dark. This was because the roof window had closed. Although sunlight is essential for lettuce growth, too much sunlight can decrease internal humidity. For this reason, the environmental controller automatically closed the roof window and increased the amount of water supplied to the crops. Kim said, "For example, if you want to maintain the internal temperature at 10 degrees Celsius and the outside temperature suddenly drops due to cloudy or rainy weather, in a conventional greenhouse, you would have to quickly draw the thermal curtain yourself. But in a smart farm, the system automatically lowers the curtain to maintain the temperature. This may not seem like much, but if the temperature is off by 10 minutes a day, that's 300 minutes (5 hours) in a month (30 days) and 3,600 minutes (60 hours) in a year that the crops are exposed to the wrong temperature," he emphasized.

Seunghyun Kim, CEO operating a European lettuce smart farm in Namwon, Jeonbuk, is explaining the environmental controller in the office. Photo by Jangdon Ju

The salad lettuce variety 'Crispiano' grown by Kim will develop physiological disorders if temperature and humidity are not kept at optimal levels, even temporarily. In such cases, yields drop sharply. However, Kim's smart farm is equipped with roof windows (in three zones), curtains (in twelve zones), and an environmental control system for temperature, humidity, and irrigation. This has reduced the occurrence of physiological disorders such as 'tip burn,' where the leaf tips and growing points dry out. According to Kim, the smart farm produces 4.5 kilograms per pyeong, about 1.3 times more than a conventional greenhouse.

He said, "If you can't maintain the optimal temperature and humidity for crop growth, the crops won't grow well, will be more susceptible to various diseases, and yields will decrease. The smart farm helps reduce mistakes and enables proper and accurate farming."

"Without FTA supplementary measures, I couldn't have even started farming" ... Supporting young entrepreneurs too

The FTA domestic supplementary measures are also helping young people enter agriculture. Heo Muhyun, CEO of Smile Farm, who produces tomatoes in Gimje, Jeonbuk, is a good example. Born in 1997, Heo is 28 years old this year. He was a young man majoring in history at university and dreamed of becoming a teacher. After taking a leave of absence from university and completing his military service, he began learning farming at the suggestion of relatives who were growing tomatoes.

Tomatoes ready for shipment hang in the smart farm in Gimje, Jeonbuk, operated by Humuhyun, CEO of Smile Farm. Photo by Joo Sangdon

Heo said, "After being discharged from the military in 2019, I decided to farm myself and first learned tomato farming at my uncle's farm for about three years. My biggest concern was raising capital, but through the Smart Farm ICT Convergence Expansion Project under the FTA supplementary measures, I received a total of 340 million won in support. For the remaining facility costs, I took out a loan and established the smart farm."

The funds received through the FTA supplementary measures were used to install various facilities that reduce smart farm operating costs, such as agricultural water purification systems, nutrient solution recycling facilities, and integrated environmental controllers. Heo explained, "Since this is reclaimed land, the groundwater contains a lot of salt, so I had to bring in tap water or install a purification system. I invested about 75% of the ICT convergence project support funds to install a purification system and a nutrient solution recycling facility. The rest was invested in ventilation fans, circulation fans, and integrated environmental controls to complete the smart farm."

The nutrient solution recycling facility is equipment that recycles fertilizer by making the necessary nutrients into a solution and supplying it to the crops. When water and fertilizer are given to pots, some of the fertilizer-containing water collects in the saucer. This nutrient solution is purified and supplied again to the crops. Heo said, "By reusing fertilizer that would otherwise be discarded, the nutrient solution recycling facility reduces total fertilizer use by 40%, which lowers costs and increases profits. The annual fertilizer cost is about 50 million won, but by using the recycling facility, I reduced it to 40 million won, saving 10 million won."

The nutrient solution recycling facility supported in 2022 by Smilefarm through the "Smart Farm ICT Convergence Expansion Project," a domestic supplementary measure for FTA. Photo by Joo Sangdon

Heo said that he quit university to start the smart farm, but he has no regrets. He explained, "At first, my friends tried to stop me when I said I was dropping out to farm, but now my life is more stable and my income is better than my friends working at large corporations. Among my schoolmates, they envy me the most, saying 'You are the most successful.' If it weren't for the FTA supplementary measures and other support, it wouldn't just have been difficult to start farming; I wouldn't have even dared to try."

Production Support: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs · Korea Rural Economic Institute