‘RDA Needs to Look at Future of Sustainable Farming to Find Answers’

New Administrator Park Byung-hong of Rural Development Administration (RDA).

New Administrator Park Byung-hong of the Rural Development Administration (RDA) delivered his inaugural speech as he took office as the 30th administrator at RDA in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, on Dec. 6.

He said, “We have to devote ourselves to finding answers on what we should do for the future of sustainable farming and agricultural villages. I feel a heavy responsibility amidst outside and inside hardships.”

RDA Administrator Park added, “RDA, which will celebrate the 60th anniversary next year, has so far achieved green revolution and white revolution of agriculture and it has been leading agricultural technology innovation such as digital farming designed to graft the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution to farming, thus contributing to development of farming and farming villages.”

He said agriculture and farming villages are on the verge of regional extinction, due to low birth rates and an aging population. They have a heap of pending issues, such as abnormal weather, caused by climate change and carbon neutrality, he said.

Park said, “National tasks have been successfully completed and urgent pending issues need to be addressed without interruption.” RDA will provide technical support to facilitate the implementation of agricultural food industry policies, coupled with state-invested tasks and concentrate its capabilities and resources to produce tangible achievements of national tasks and core projects.

Administrator Park stressed RDA’s role in offering support to solve field hindrance technologies and problems of agriculture and farming villages. “We will continue to develop varieties tailored to meet consumers’ needs suiting to regions and reflect social structural changes like one-person households and consumer trends in the course of the development of varieties,” he said.

Administrator Park Byung-hong of Rural Development Administration (RDA) poses with RDA staffers after he took office as the 30th administrator at RDA in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, on Dec. 6. (Photos: RDA)

Park emphasized the significance of the development of agriculture technologies, saying that automation and being “intelligent” will have to save labor force and raise productivity and quality. Administrator Park cited the importance of carbon neutrality in the agriculture and livestock field.

“The development of carbon reduction technologies, coupled with digital agriculture technologies, is important and study on renewable energy utilization using agriculture by-products will be implemented and prediction and warning technologies based on digital technologies should be upgraded,” he said.

Park urged RDA staff to make efforts to renew themselves on their own accord and pursue innovation. Researchers should be sensitive to global technology trends, and they ought to be first movers, not fast followers, he said.

Park noted that what state should do will be divided with what the private sector can do better and both sides need to concentrate on its own roles and RDA will have to cooperate with universities, companies, related associations organizations, he said.

Administrator Park Byung-hong of Rural Development Administration meets with rural organization leaders at a ceremony to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the Korean Rural Leaders’ Central Association at the Farmers’ Hall in Suwon on Dec. 8 shortly after he took office as RDA administrator.