Government-designated Academic Institutions Nurture Smart-farming Professionals 

Sejong, 23 August 2024 — On 7 August, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) designated Sunchon National University (the area of education: controlled-environment horticulture) and Yonam College (the area of education: animal husbandry) as academic institutions specializing in smart-farming education. 

This designation is based on Article 8 of the Act on Fostering and Supporting Smart Farming, which came into effect on 26 July this year. For the designation, the MAFRA evaluated the documents submitted by academic and research institutions qualified in terms of required conditions such as faculty and staff, facilities and equipment, etc., and visited such institutions to carry out on-site evaluation.  

Sunchon National University and Yonam College will complete the development of curricula for smart-farming education and their admission processes on August this year and then provide the educational courses starting from September. The curricular consist of courses tailored to occupational types and include courses as in the following: (a) an introduction to smart-farming, (b) operation and maintenance of ICT facilities and equipment, (c) safety management of smart-farming facilities and equipment, and (d) data collation and analysis.

Starting with the two academic institutions, the MAFRA will gradually increase the number of schools specializing in smart-farming education.

Director-General Lee Sang-man of the MAFRA’s Agri-food Innovation Policy Bureau said: “Smart-farming holds a key to the future of agriculture. Nurturing smart-farming professionals is important to the development of the smart-farming industry. I expect that the smart-farming schools designated this year will play an important role in helping more farmers learn smart-farming skills and know-how.”