농업 경쟁력 제고를 위한 정밀농업 체계 구축 방안

Abstract

최근 농기자재의 대량 투입과 대량 생산을 특징으로 하는 현대 관행농업은 환경오염과 식량위기 등에 대한 우려와 함께 농업의 지속가능성을 통해 세계적 공통 이슈에 직면해 있다. 또한 세계인구의 증가 가속화에 따른 식량위기는 물론 온난화 등 세계적 기상이변 역시 전 세계가 공통으로 대처해야 할 과제이다. 아울러 최근 우리나라 농업은 농업구조 변화는 물론 빠르게 발전하는 첨단산업과 농산업의 융복합을 통한 미래농업의 대응 역시 당면한 과제이다.

이 연구는 농업 투입재의 최적투입 및 처방을 핵심으로 하는 정밀농업에 대한 개념과 범위를 살펴보고, 최근 첨단산업기술을 접목하여 우리나라 농업의 미래 경쟁력 제고를 위한 정밀농업 체계 구축 전략과 정책과제를 제시하는 것을 목적으로 하였다.

Background and Purpose ○The changes in the farming environment at home and abroad highlight the significance of precision agriculture. While the world population continues to rise exponentially, the reduced area for crop cultivation and the drops in yield increase cause concerns about the food shortage in the future. Precision agriculture is a farming method to maximize yields while less contaminating the environment. Therefore, the need for and interest in an eco-friendly manner is increasing. Precision agriculture pursues doing the right treatment at the right times in the right places. Its basic concept was conceived because the requirements for fertilizers, pesticides, and water are different even in the same farmland depending on soil quality and water loss. Therefore, precision agriculture can achieve various outcomes for resolving labor shortage, reducing uncertainties in agricultural produce supply, saving management costs for eco-friendliness, and eliciting economic effects. As a result, it can serve as a promising field that will make a paradigm shift.

○Against this backdrop, it is time to set up a precision agriculture framework connected to state-of-the-art technologies, including ICT. The government should also come up with an agricultural policy to nurture it as a future industry to reduce the environmental footprints, raise the productivity of safe crops, increase farmers’ income, and develop other related industries.

○This research intends to suggest a precision agriculture framework to improve Korean agriculture‘s future competitiveness after exploring its concept and scope. It also aims to provide fundamental data to introduce precision agriculture to Korea by inspecting related industries at home and abroad and proposing a direction for progress.

Research Methodology ○We carried out literature reviews, surveys, and statistical data analysis. First of all, we reviewed previous research data at home and abroad regarding relevant regulations and systems. We also inspected farm machinery and management systems in advanced countries in terms of precision agriculture. Our survey targeted 1,589 farmers (KREI correspondents) through email received 761 replies. 120 experts in academia, the private sector, and the government were interviewed in a commissioned survey through email. We analyzed the collected data from 53 respondents.

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