Five Sites to Be Selected Nationwide by January 16 Next Year
9.5 Billion Won per Zone for Infrastructure and Other Support
Jeonnam Province announced that it will be recruiting candidates to participate in the "Outdoor Smart Agriculture Development Zone Project," a new initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for 2026, until January 16, 2026.
The "2026 Outdoor Smart Agriculture Development Zone Project" is a national strategic project designed to address the structural challenges of outdoor agriculture-which accounts for 96% of total farmland area-such as weather-related disasters, aging farming populations, and recurring increases in production costs. The project aims to introduce advanced technologies, including smart irrigation, pest and disease monitoring, and data-driven farming, to large-scale key production areas.
Selected projects will receive support over three years, from 2026 to 2028, with five zones nationwide each receiving 9.5 billion won per zone (7.6 billion won for solution dissemination, 1.6 billion won for infrastructure development, and 300 million won for strengthening technological capabilities).
Cities and counties wishing to participate must secure a project site of at least 500 hectares per crop, establish a designation plan for the smart agriculture development zone, and form a consortium with producer organizations and solution companies. The completed application must then be submitted to Jeonnam Province.
Jeonnam Province will assemble an external expert evaluation committee to comprehensively review the applications and basic plans submitted by cities and counties. The review will consider factors such as site conditions, the feasibility of implementing solutions to address on-site issues, and the connectivity with existing facilities. Based on this review, two suitable candidate sites will be recommended to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The recommended candidate sites will undergo document and on-site evaluations by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (around February 2026), with the final project sites to be confirmed by the end of March.
The final selected participants are expected to bring diverse and beneficial ripple effects to the rural economy, not only by ensuring production stability through the introduction of AI-based pest and disease monitoring, precision irrigation, and smart equipment, but also by reducing labor burdens through automation and mechanization.
Yu Deokgyu, Director of the Crop and Horticulture Division of Jeonnam Province, emphasized, "Outdoor smart agriculture is a survival strategy for agriculture in the era of climate crisis and a future growth engine for Jeonnam's agriculture. Based on Jeonnam's strength as a large-scale key production area, we will make Jeonnam the nation's leading hub for smart agricultural innovation."
Jeonnam Province plans to establish a foundation for smart agricultural innovation in the Muan area by 2030, as a total of 115 billion won in national agricultural artificial intelligence transformation (AX) core infrastructure-comprising the Agricultural AX Global Business Center (45 billion won), Agricultural AX Demonstration Center (40 billion won), and AI-based Growth Support Data Center (30 billion won)-has been included in the government's 2026 budget.
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