Urban smart farm initiative "Daejeon Farm" is emerging as a model for urban agriculture as the city expands its network. Daejeon Metropolitan City announced on the 18th that it completed construction of six new smart farm "Daejeon Farm" sites utilizing idle urban spaces in March and began full operations.
The six newly established sites add to three existing smart farms—a technology research type, a themed type, and a demonstration type. This brings Daejeon's total "Daejeon Farm" network to nine locations. Last year, the city solicited and selected private operators through the Daejeon Jobs and Economy Promotion Agency to develop various smart farm types different from existing models, including workplace-linked, sharing culture expansion, and open proposal types.
The workplace-linked type involves Bongbong Farm Seedling Café and Green S-Tech, which produce and utilize agricultural products in connection with existing businesses such as cafés. The sharing culture expansion type is a public interest smart farm operated by Green Yuseong Farm that provides a portion of harvested produce to vulnerable populations. The open proposal type realizes new business models based on creative private-sector ideas, operating at three sites: E&Fresh, SN, and Green Farm.
The city plans to continue expanding "Daejeon Farm" based on experience from establishing nine sites. It will analyze operational performance by type to extend the Daejeon Farm network and actively incorporate findings into smart agriculture policy initiatives.
"Daejeon Farm, which started with two sites in 2023, has now expanded to nine and is establishing itself as a new model for urban agriculture," said Park Young-chul, Director of the Parks, Greenery and Agricultural Life Bureau at Daejeon Metropolitan City. "We will continue to leverage the characteristics of each type to provide practical benefits to citizens and create a virtuous cycle of coexistence with the local community."
Source: Seoul Economic Daily
