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Smart farms, which were previously only possible in greenhouses, are expected to become possible in open fields as well.

KT and Gyeongnong announced on the 23rd that they signed a business agreement for cooperation in open field crop and smart farm business.

The signing ceremony held on the afternoon of the 22nd at the KT East building in Gwanghwamun, Seoul was attended by officials from both companies, including KT Biz Incubation Center Managing Director Im Ji-hyang and Kyeongnong Management Support Headquarters Vice President Cho Dong-yeon.

Kyungnong is an agricultural industry specialized company that provides total solutions for agricultural products, including fertilizers, crop protection agents, seeds, irrigation materials, post-harvest materials, and natural enemies. In particular, Kyungnong holds patents for various irrigation solutions, including micro-sprinklers (Visionnet) and low-pressure fog nozzles (Air Fog).

KT is developing various smart farm models, including smart greenhouses, container farms, and agricultural solar farms, by utilizing ICT technologies such as smart farm platforms, management and operation software, and complex environmental controllers. Last year, it also successfully completed the development project for an open-field vegetable smart farm model promoted by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Up until now, domestic smart farm technology has been developed mainly in glass greenhouses and vinyl houses where the cultivation environment can be easily controlled, and technology development has not been easy in open fields where the cultivation environment is directly exposed to nature due to various environmental constraints.

KT and Kyungnong agreed that developing smart farm technology in open fields, which account for half of the country's farmland, is essential for expanding the introduction of smart farms, and have entered into a business cooperation.

Through this business agreement, the two companies agreed to jointly develop a smart farm model for open-field crops and orchards optimized for the domestic agricultural environment.

KT will be responsible for developing a smart farm package for open-field crops and orchards that can be applied immediately according to the type of farmland, such as fields or orchards, by combining KT's water management solution with KT's smart farm control solution.

KT Biz Incubation Center Managing Director Im Ji-hyang said, “With this business agreement, KT and Gyeongnong have combined their respective areas of expertise to introduce a dedicated package service for open-field smart farms,” adding, “KT will continue to work with various agricultural industry specialists to contribute to improving domestic agricultural productivity and create opportunities to enter the global market together with leading technologies.”