Establishment of smart farms for field vegetables for 59 farms nationwide
Reduce water usage by 90% by using weather information
Rural aging and climate change response
KT has been selected as the contracted operator for the '2018 Field Vegetable Smart Farm Model Development Project' hosted by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. KT plans to establish smart farms for the four major field vegetables, including radish, cabbage, onion, and pepper, in 59 farms nationwide by the end of the year.

Field vegetables are crops grown on land that is not covered by a roof or cover, and usually refer to crops grown in 'field farming'. Up until now, domestic smart farms have been introduced mainly through facility horticulture, but there have been many restrictions due to the high installation cost per unit area and the difficulty in securing farmland that meets the installation conditions. However, since open field vegetable smart farms are hardly affected by terrain and can be installed at a relatively low cost, they can be applied to small-scale farms as well as large-scale farms.

The advantage of KT's open-field vegetable smart farm is that the AI analysis solution maintains optimal growing conditions based on meteorological information such as temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, solar radiation, and rainfall collected through sensors installed in the farmland, as well as soil information such as ground temperature, moisture content, and salinity (EC).

For example, in the case of a sudden heat wave like this summer, when the amount of moisture required for crops changes drastically, it can detect this and automatically adjust the amount of moisture supplied, and can adjust it so that moisture can be supplied evenly to all crops in a winding field. In addition, it is expected to be an alternative that can fundamentally solve the problem of water shortage, as it can reduce water usage by up to 90% compared to general field farming.
In particular, as the proportion of elderly farmers steadily increases and the possibility of human casualties increases due to intense heat waves, we can also expect the effect of protecting farmers' health from climate change through smart farms for open-field vegetables. In addition, it is expected to help develop new farming methods that can reduce water usage to resolve the water shortage phenomenon that has become serious due to drought and green algae, and the resulting conflicts between farmers and regions.

Jeong Dong-pyo, the head of the crop team in Mujang-myeon, Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do, who participated in the development of the smart farm model for field vegetables, expressed his expectations, saying, “Watering crops in the middle of the night is difficult and dangerous, but if we introduce smart farms, it will be much more convenient as we will be able to take care of crops at home without having to go out to the fields.”

KT Future Business Development Team Leader and Managing Director Koh Yoon-jeon said, “KT will not only contribute to improving domestic agricultural productivity by developing various smart farm models and securing various references, but will also actively advance into the global market.”