“The global smart agriculture market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% from $17.5 billion in 2023 to $28.5 billion in 2028, and is attracting attention as a future industry that will simultaneously solve climate crises and food security issues.”

The 119th edition of the Mechanical Technology Policy published by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Ryu Seok-hyun) proposes ‘future-oriented smart agriculture’ as a key national strategic technology, highlighting the importance of smart agriculture as a new breakthrough for solving climate change and food security issues.

Smart agriculture is an innovative technology that promotes digital transformation and autonomy in agriculture, and major countries around the world are already fostering it as a national strategic industry.

In particular, the United States and Europe are taking the lead in the market through large-scale investment and policy support, and the Netherlands is securing global competitiveness through advanced smart agriculture centered on farmers.


According to market research firm Technavio, the global smart agriculture market is It is expected to grow from $17.5 billion in 2023 to $28.5 billion in 2028.

Smart agriculture, which combines digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data, promises to increase productivity and efficiency that overcome the limitations of existing agriculture.

Smart farming is broadly divided into four generations.

The first generation is precision agriculture that uses GPS to optimize fertilizer and seed input per field, the second generation is IoT-based farm automation, the third generation is intelligent environmental control that predicts and warns of growing environments and pests and diseases using AI and big data, and the fourth generation is the stage of smart robots, drones, and unmanned agricultural machinery that can operate completely autonomously.

Countries are also responding quickly.

After COP26, the United States announced 'AIM for Climate' and invested $1 billion in promoting digital farms using ICT, AI, and IoT.

The EU aims to reduce pesticide and fertilizer use by 2030 through the Public Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the 'Farm to Fork' strategy, and has embarked on institutionalizing 'Climate-Smart Agriculture'.

Japan plans to provide integrated agricultural network and information services through the 'WAGRI' platform and increase the smart farm penetration rate to 30% by 2027.

Korea is establishing the 'K-Smart Agriculture Comprehensive Plan (2023)' and is promoting expansion of digital farm demonstration complexes, establishment of data hubs, and training of smart farm personnel.

Private companies and startups are also active.

Traditional agricultural machinery companies John Deere and Trimble are It commercializes autonomous tractors, GPS sensors, and platforms, and Priva from the Netherlands supplies smart greenhouse control systems worldwide.

Microsoft's FarmBeats project connects low-cost sensors and drones to provide data-driven agricultural solutions to small-scale farmers.

Plenty, Aerofarms, and Bowery Farming in the U.S. are looking to achieve both food security and sustainability through their indoor vertical farm model.

Insect food and feed companies such as French Ynsect and Dutch Protix are pioneering the future protein market through insect farming automation and process optimization.

On the other hand, there are indications that domestic technological prowess is showing a 3.4-year technological gap compared to the EU, and that expansion of R&D and strengthening of basic research are urgent.

First, it is urgent to build infrastructure such as communication networks and power grids in rural areas.

Governance is also needed to ensure data standardization and safe sharing.

It is necessary to improve the skills of smart farm operation personnel and strengthen support for education and consulting services for farmers.

Institutionally, it is required to provide tax benefits for the spread of smart farm facilities, expand the scale of loan and subsidy support, and establish certification standards for remote precision observation and automation equipment.

To address these challenges, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has proposed next-generation smart agricultural technologies, including smart urban agriculture, smart insect farming systems, and agricultural robot systems.

These technologies offer a blueprint for the future of agriculture in terms of food production using urban spaces, securing alternative protein sources, and automating and increasing efficiency in tasks.

In particular, urban smart farming utilizes idle space in urban buildings.Insect farming is rapidly spreading in the form of vertical farms and rooftop greenhouses, and is gaining attention as a sustainable food source that reduces greenhouse gases.

Additionally, agricultural robots can automate difficult harvesting tasks and serve as an alternative to the problem of an aging agricultural workforce.

Kim Cheol-hoo, a senior researcher, said, “Smart agriculture is a future industry that goes beyond simple technological advancement and aims to simultaneously solve social issues such as the climate crisis and food security.” He emphasized, “Along with the government’s continued policy support, the private sector’s R&D investment activation and the training of related talents must go hand in hand.”

This year, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials launched the ‘Future Agricultural Biotechnology Research Group’ and is focusing on securing core mechanical technologies for smart agriculture.

In addition, we are continuously proposing policies in the machinery industry through the Machinery Technology Policy Report, which is published more than four times a year. Related reports can be viewed and subscribed to through the website of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (www.kimm.re.kr).