The government will improve location regulations, which are obstacles to the growth of the vertical farm industry, and support technology development, funds, and exports. The main point is to allow vertical farms to enter industrial complexes.
On the 26th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a meeting at Planti Farm, a company specializing in vertical farms in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, and announced that they would push for such measures. Vertical farms are factory-type farms that grow crops in indoor vertical structures by incorporating advanced technologies such as robots and artificial intelligence (AI). It is characterized by automatic control of temperature, humidity, and production processes.
However, vertical farms are currently subject to location regulations. It is difficult to install on farmland. Industrial complexes also target manufacturing and knowledge industries, so vertical farms corresponding to crop-growing agriculture cannot move in.
In response, the government will ease regulations to allow vertical farms to be installed on farmland in a certain area and revise the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Cluster Act and the Industrial Location Act to move into industrial complexes within this year. It will also support technological development, such as upgrading sensors and robots for vertical farms and demonstrating vertical farm operations using waste heat from factories.
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