SK Telecom will work with confectionary companies and venture companies to make smart potato farms. It is expected that farmers’ incomes and potato productivity will be improved through the application of advanced ICT solutions.
SK Telecom, Orion and SMARF signed a business agreement at the Orion potato contract farm in Gumi, Gyeongbuk province on April 25th to provide ‘intelligent irrigation and water management solution’ to potato farms that have been unable to apply smart farm technology.
The intelligent irrigation and water management solution is a smart farm technology developed by SK Telecom and SK Telecom’s OpenCollabo venture company SMARF.
Utilizing the IoT platform, it analyzes real-time information such as temperature, humidity, and precipitation, necessary for growing crops, and automatically calculates the required water and nutrients. In addition, by allowing remote control with the use of mobile devices, workers’ jobs should become considerably easier.
In accordance with the agreement, SK Telecom will provide the IoTThingplug platform and the LoRa network needed for solutions operation, and support the cost solution construction. SMARF will be responsible for building solutions, developing optimal algorithms, and educating on how to use such solutions. Orion will provide support on the selection of the contract growing farm, provide seed potatoes and data, and consultations on cultivation techniques.
“Potato farmers will be able to solve the problem of rapid climate change, soil change and laborreduction, which has been difficult to cultivate in the past, by introducing solutions without incurring initial costs, and it is expected to contribute to income increase,” said SK Telecom.
