Icheon City Holds 'Digital Rice Cultivation Technology On-Site Demonstration'

[Suwon Ilbo=Eom In-yong Reporter] Icheon City (Acting Mayor Park Jong-geun) announced on June 1st that it held a 'digital rice cultivation technology on-site demonstration' as part of the 'labor-saving rice cultivation complex development' pilot project.

This demonstration was organized to address the labor shortage problem resulting from rural aging and declining agricultural population, and to expand the model of labor-saving rice cultivation utilizing digital agricultural technology to the field.

Approximately 50 people, including farmers and related officials, attended the event, which was jointly promoted by the Icheon City Agricultural Technology Center (Director Kim Dong-ho) and the Icheon City Rice Research Association.

The 'labor-saving rice cultivation complex development project' aims to establish automation infrastructure throughout the entire rice cultivation process by utilizing digital agricultural technologies such as autonomous transplanting machines, drone-based growth measurement, automatic water management systems, and disinfection boats.

On-site demonstrations included an autonomous transplanting machine demonstration utilizing GPS-based automatic steering devices.

The autonomous transplanting machine is expected to help solve rural labor shortage problems by automatically performing driving operations, reducing operator fatigue, and improving work precision.

Additionally, digital growth measurement technology utilizing drones was showcased.

This technology analyzes rice growth conditions and predicts harvest outcomes by utilizing drone footage, enabling rapid understanding of overall field growth conditions and data-based precision cultivation management.

The Icheon City Agricultural Technology Center also introduced the results of actual verification tests for timely rice transplanting of premium-quality Icheon rice. As concerns over quality deterioration from high temperatures during ripening grow due to recent persistent abnormal weather conditions, the center guided the importance of timely transplanting practices and requested farmers' attention and participation.

During the event, a fertilizer reduction commitment ceremony was also held to reduce production costs and preserve the environment, with participants pledging to actively implement appropriate fertilization based on soil testing and reduce fertilizer usage.

Kim Dong-ho, director of Icheon City Agricultural Technology Center, stated, "Digital agricultural technology is an important solution to address rural aging and labor shortage problems," and added, "We will strengthen on-site technology guidance to expand the distribution of smart agricultural technologies such as autonomous farm machinery and drones, thereby reducing labor while increasing productivity."