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New Test Farm Installed at KIST Gangneung (2017.04.24)
- Date : 2017-08-30
- Views : 5144
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International Cooperation Team
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New Test Farm Installed at KIST Gangneung
- Opening ceremony held last April
- Used for conducting trials on Smart Farm 2.0 technology
On April 21, a launch ceremony was held for the new test farm recently installed in the KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products. Five government-funded research institutes, including the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), collaborated on constructing the test farm in order to foster and evaluate core Smart Farm 2.0* technologies.
*Smart Farm 2.0: Enhances crop productivity through a complex environmental control system focusing on enhanced crop growth.
Development of Smart Farm 2.0 technology began in October 2015, with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the National Research Council of Science & Technology. The project has been led by KIST, with participation from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), and the Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI).
The core technologies to be evaluated at the test farm are as follows: 1) crop growth measurement & analysis, 2) complex physiological/environmental sensor-based irrigation, 3) nutrient-rich liquid dispersal, 4) complex environmental controls, 5) greenhouse operational management, 6) optimal energy usage (including a Hybrid heat system), 7) a Smart Farm information utilization system, and 8) enhanced farming processes for functional crops used as ingredients in various food- and drug-related products. Furthermore, the test farm will serve as an educational site for future farmers interested in launching new businesses based on Smart Farm technologies.
Besides the newly-launched test farm inside KIST Gangneung, KIST’s Convergence Research Center for Smart Farm Solution (SFS) has installed and operated similar test farms in Gangneung and Cheonan. Moreover, cooperation agreements were signed with Taean County and the city of Pohang, where Smart Farm complexes are currently being constructed. Trial runs of Smart Farm 2.0 technology will be fully underway at these locations by the end of the year.
Nho Chu-Won, head of the Convergence Research Center for SFS, said "With the installation of the test farm at KIST Gangneung, we can quickly evaluate newly developed technologies and accelerate their commercialization. We will develop additional technologies and distribute them via the Smart Farm R&D cooperation system operated by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Rural Development Administration. We plan to expand the test farm model into new cities and regions, enabling Smart Farm technologies to be tested and improved throughout the whole country."