The world population is currently 8 billion and is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Due to climate change, food security and agricultural productivity are rapidly emerging as major challenges for the survival of future nations. With science and technology, AI, and digital transformation in the agricultural industry emerging as core competency tasks, experts from all walks of life have gathered together to discuss the future prospects for agriculture.

On the 16th, the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) held the Agricultural Outlook 2025 at the Lotte Hotel World in Jamsil, Seoul, and shared insights on the current status and future outlook of the domestic agricultural sector.

Agricultural Outlook 2025 discussed future directions amidst changes in the domestic agricultural environment under the theme of ‘Preparing for Changes in Korean Agriculture and Rural Areas.’ The event on this day attracted over 1,700 pre-registered participants, showing great interest in the future prospects of agriculture.

KREI President Han Doo-bong said, “Domestic agriculture is facing various challenges such as climate change, global politics and economy, and digital transformation,” and the agricultural outlook session “will provide insights and suggest new directions for AI digital innovation to advance agriculture in new directions.”

In the keynote speech, Vice Chairman of the National Artificial Intelligence Commission Yeom Jae-ho presented the topic, ‘A Great Transformation of Civilization in the AI Era: The Possibility of Agricultural Innovation.’ We introduce the impact of AI, which is changing the entire history of human civilization, on agriculture.
Vice Chairman Yeom mentioned the following agricultural innovations in the AI era: △autonomous tractors, △weed selection and recognition and herbicide spraying, △smart farms and eco-friendly mass production, △machine learning and robots, △crop sensing and monitoring, and △harvesting and transport robots, adding, “There is a high possibility that this will lead to a paradigm shift and a shift to a factory-style smart farm.”

Experts predict that if AI innovation and digital transformation in agriculture will enable profitable agricultural management in a more pleasant environment, there will be significant synergy effects in the influx of young people into the agricultural industry and SW development.

Vice Chairman Yeom said, “Based on AI climate change predictions, it will be possible to predict planting, cultivation, harvest, and shipping times, and the system will completely change in terms of demand, supply, and distribution,” and predicted that AI will make the storage, shipping, and distribution of crops more efficient.

Kim Sang-ho, head of the KREI Trend Analysis Lab, said, “There are limits to the traditional production center of agriculture, so we need to establish a strategy to overcome these limitations through AI, smart farms, and digital transformation.” He also predicted, “As digital technology utilization remains low, issues such as △strengthening information connectivity and utilization, △standardizing cultivation technology by weather environment type, △expanding the supply of digital devices and facilities, and △strengthening digital technology education are expected to continue this year.”

Digital warfare for industries and enterprises around the worldThe exchange rate is accelerating, and the introduction and conversion of overseas smart agriculture is also taking place at a rapid pace. Accordingly, the government is aiming for a conversion rate of 30% of agricultural production to smart agriculture by 2027, but the current smart farm introduction rate is only 15% of all facility horticulture and 6% of livestock farms, so the conversion is sluggish.

Researcher Seo Dae-seok said, “Farmers who have introduced smart farms are expressing a strong will to scale up,” and “It is clear that there is an effect of increasing productivity, and the economic effect has also been proven.” Accordingly, the government is required to respond to the spread of the ripple effect of smart farms.
In her congratulatory speech that day, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mei-ling said, “I believe that the three major transformations of digital transformation, generational transformation, and spatial transformation are the paths that can change the future of our rural areas, and I will actively pursue structural transformation and innovation tasks for the future of agriculture.” She also announced that she would pursue a policy to expand the smart APC platform, which applies digital technology to the entire agricultural product distribution process, to 60 locations.

Minister Song said, “We will do our best to increase the proportion of smart agricultural production from 16% in 2024 to 20% in 2025 and link cutting-edge technologies such as agricultural AI robots with upstream and downstream industries,” adding, “We plan to focus large-scale R&D investments on mid- to long-term pressing issues in future industries and tasks with high demand.”