Managing water quality in river and ground water ecosystems is another shared challenge for sustainable agriculture in both the U.S.and South Korea.Water quality is intrinsically tied to water storage levels, stream flow and climate change.When estimating future life-cycle eutrophication, Lee et al.found that eutrophication in the Midwest U.S.stays relatively steady when using the Representative Concentration Pathways , developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , except in the scenario where GHG emissions are high.High levels of GHG emissions from corn production in the Midwest coupled with ambient temperatures and precipitation suggest a sharp increase in eutrophication in the region by 2022 for a four-year period and then again in 2057.In South Korea, recent economic activity and the influx of pollutants have increased, therefore, as preventive methods, standard fertility prescription, non-point pollutant control, organic farming with low energy, and livestock manure cycling have been implemented.The Rural Community Corporation, which supplies the right amount of high-quality water required for farming in a timely manner by managing agricultural reservoirs, pumping stations, and water canals, has been monitoring water quality in real-time through automatic water quality measurement devices, hydroponic nft channel predicting water quality changes through big data and artificial intelligence analysis and conducting preventive water quality management.In 2020, the corona virus significantly disrupted the supply and demand cycle for agricultural products and disrupted agricultural distribution systems in both countries.
The decline in food demand by restaurants and hotels coupled with reduced demand for bio-fuels as travel decreased had an immediate and severe impact on U.S.farmers and resulted in lower crop and livestock yields and a disturbance in the food supply chain.In South Korea, sales for in-person walk-in food markets dropped by 19.6%, and online sales increased by 46 %.In both countries, food and horticulture exports were down due to global cancellation of events.Food service providers, food catering companies and farmers were severely impacted from school and restaurant closures.The overall projection by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will have ongoing effects throughout the next decade caused by a decline in consumer demand, and disruption in agro-food trading and the downstream food processing industry.The demographics of farmers in both countries indicate an aging workforce and a shrinking rural population.The average age of U.S.producers in 2017 was 59.4 years , with only 9.4% of producers being 35 years old or less.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in non-metro areas had begun to decline and there was a slight increase in rural populations.The upturn was due in part to better labor market conditions and recovering real estate markets in rural areas.Nonetheless, more than 82% of the nation’s population continues to be concentrated in big cities.South Korea has a similar situation with most producers being 65 years or older.South Korea is also experiencing a population decline in rural areas.The rural population in 2018 was 18.54 % of the total population , which represents a decrease of 84.4% as compared with its rural population in 1970.The aging and decrease in population are due in part to urbanization and most younger citizens leaving for cities where the living standards are higher ,and agricultural mechanization.
According to Yoon et al., in addition to the problems of an aging farmer population and reduction in farmland, the free trade agreements with the European Union, China, and the U.S.have weakened the competitiveness of domestic agriculture.A summary of challenges to agricultural production are listed in Table 2.The U.S.and South Korea are known for their innovative technologies , which carry over to the agricultural sector.Historically, both the U.S.and South Korea were dominated by an agrarian culture, but now both have mixed economies.American agriculture began to experience a significant change in the early 1900’s transforming from a labor-intensive sector to highly efficient mechanized operations.South Korea quickly transformed to a leading economy in a single generation , in part due to comprehensive five-year economic plans developed by the government and investment in social overhead capital in the technology sector.The high degree of innovation and embracement of advanced technologies, serves both countries well in their quest towards smart solutions.Currently, both the U.S.and South Korea are working towards the development of smart farming systems or elements of smart farming to adapt to and mitigate the challenges posed by limited resources, climate change and environmental impacts.The U.S.passes legislation every five years, commonly known as the “Farm Bill”, to address national agricultural and food policy.The current farm law applies through 2023.Policies are carried out through a variety of programs including nutrition, crop insurance, commodity support and land conservation.While the farm bill authorizes and pays for mandatory expenditures and establishes limitations for discretionary programs, a national American approach to develop a smart farming system does not exist.Rather, advances in agricultural technologies and information systems that constitute elements in smart farming systems have been or are being developed mainly by the private sector, although public non-profit companies, and university institutions have had a role in agricultural innovations.
In more recent years, corporations that invest in agricultural R&D are prone to mergers and acquisition.Smart farming solutions designed in the U.S.are mostly hardware or software products that can operate independently or in combination to provide farm management processes.Examples are GPS-guided tractors, yield monitors, variable rate sprayers for pest control, planters and variable rate fertilizer implements.All these technologies have been widely adopted in the U.S., mainly because this equipment allows farmers to manage large-size farms more efficiently and optimize more precisely the inputs with no additional human labor.Currently, in the U.S., smart system products developed by private industry are available to farmers on the retail market.Universities and the Agricultural Research Service are also involved in developing smart farming solutions for precision irrigation management in collaboration with private industry or with state cooperative extension specialists.specific smart system solutions include automation and equipment control , optimization of machine operations , or provision of decision support tools for irrigation scheduling, forecasting precipitation, or developing variable rate application maps for fertilizer or irrigation.The market for smart hardware also addresses the need to reduce the time that a grower spends monitoring and making agronomic decisions for large-size fields or for multiple fields.Decision support algorithms are data driven and typically based on any one or a combination of in-situ sensors, image sensors, imagery from UAVs or satellite systems in combination with edge or cloud computing and machine learning algorithms.Information is acquired by farmers using mobile phone apps or web-based computer sites.In many cases irrigation companies are working with software firms and tech companies that offer geo information services to provide a whole package solution.The shortfall of these smart hardware and software solutions are that they often use unique algorithms with proprietary platforms to limit their compatibility between manufacturers.Non-profit groups also play an indirect role in driving the development of concepts and elements of smart farming in the U.S.
Examples include the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology , a nonprofit organization, that provides information to policy makers, the media, private industries and the public.The CAST group developed a position statement on Climate Smart Agriculture that emphasizes the role that agriculture can play in helping address climate change while creating jobs and economic opportunities.In addition, Ag Gateway, a global non-profit organization is helping to frame smart farming on a national scale in the U.S.Its mission is to develop resources and relationships that drive digital connectivity in global agriculture and related industries.In working with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers , AG Gateway pushed for the development of data exchange standards for transaction and electronic data compatibility.This initiative was meant to standardize language and improve data exchange across multiple hardware and software platforms to enable interoperability among sensors and equipment used in precision irrigation technologies.Use of the standard by manufacturers and industry members is voluntary.A summary of the main smart farm concepts for the U.S.is listed in Table 4.In South Korea, concepts for smart farming solutions are more holistic.The Korean national innovation system was implemented to develop regional economies based on technological innovation.The system emphasizes the role of government in leading collaborative research and development to promote technological capabilities and is perpetrated in the agricultural sector with the dominant purpose being rural economic development.In the arena of smart farming, the Korean government aims to improve productivity and quality by enhancing ICT utilization through education,nft growing system consulting, and follow-up management.The Korean government views smart farming as a system to help guarantee the generational sustainability of agriculture, it is determined to change the national agricultural structure to meet the trends and demands of the times, such as digitization and low-carbon conversion.The Korean government also envisions smart agriculture as a mean to continue to regenerate rural areas as the core idea of the Korean version of the New Deal.Smart farming, which combines ICT and robot science technology such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things , is spreading and disseminating to respond to the devastation to the agricultural environment caused by climate change and solve the agricultural problems.
As part of these efforts, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been promoting agriculture for the purpose of upgrading agriculture, responding to the aging of farmers and nurturing young farmers.MAFRA has set an expansion target by 2022 and is promoting ICT convergence projects in agriculture , development of Korean smart farm models, and R&D support projects 2019.The goal was to enable 7,000 ha of farms and orchards, and 5,750 barns to operate as smart farms and smart operations, respectively, by 2022.Since 2018, for the spread and advancement of smart farms, the creation of a youth startup ecosystem, establishment of industrial infrastructure, and creation of a smart farm innovation valley are being promoted as major policy tasks.The Rural Development Administration of the Republic of Korea has been concentrating its research capabilities on securing key elements and source based technologies to develop the world’s best Korean-style smart farm model, and to make the entire process of the perch production system smart.The Korean smart farm project is a long-term project to secure independent agricultural production technology that can compete with advanced agricultural countries by developing technology suitable for agricultural environment and field conditions without importing, applying, or simply imitating foreign advanced technology.This Korean smart farm prototype follows a technology model with various levels : 1st generation-improved convenience with remote monitoring and control, the 2nd generation-improved productivity through intelligent precision growth management, and the 3rd generation-export of smart farm integrated system such as energy optimization and robot automation of the technology are developed and put into practical use.The project plans to reduce the use of labor and agricultural materials, link it with farm household income through productivity and quality improvement, and further solve the difficulties in the farming field and related industries at the same time.Currently, because the ICT devices being distributed are not compatible with each other due to the different product specifications of each company, the integrated management and maintenance of smart farms is difficult.Accordingly, ICT equipment standardization and other standardization work are underway to unify the format and communication method into one common standard for various sensors and controllers used in horticulture and livestock.While South Korea emphasizes smart farming communities, the government also embraces discrete smart farming solutions in the form of smart agriculture equipment blended with the idea of digital agriculture which combines ‘precision agriculture’ technology with intelligent network and data management and utilizes big data and artificial intelligence for decision support.Smart farm applications are currently being used in greenhouse production and field production.The main smart farming concepts for Sourth Korea are summarized in Table 4.Smart farming has the potential to reduce labor and increase efficiency of agricultural inputs and time management for producers, this would benefit both countries.Reduced inputs with limited reduction in quantity and quality of yield could translate into profitability.Sector growth is envisioned as long as the ICT system affords data strategies providing intelligent information and services to farmers such as potential buyers for their products and predictions for future demands.The global market for smart agricultural goods was estimated at 6.34 billion USD in 2017; this market is projected to reach 13.50 billion USD by 2023.