Cheongju City’s Agricultural Mechanization Project: Boosting Productivity and Farmer Incomes

Cheongju City, in partnership with the Rural Development Agency, has launched a public initiative under the “Small and Medium Field Agriculture” program to implement a “demonstration project for mechanized joint agricultural distribution.” This project aims to fully mechanize the entire production process for potatoes and soybeans in rural areas, addressing labor shortages while significantly enhancing productivity. With a total investment of 600 million won (funded 50% by the national government and 50% by municipal resources), the initiative is being rolled out at the Ochang Nonghyeop potato production complex. This cooperative group, comprising 81 farmers across approximately 37 hectares in the Ochang-eup district, already benefits from stable market access through contracts with the Gunnab market and fruit-and-vegetable outlets. The new project will further strengthen their position by introducing mechanization from planting to shipment, creating a comprehensive system tailored to small and medium-scale farming operations.

The project encompasses every stage of production—sowing, bed forming, harvesting, sorting, and shipping—with plans to supply 24 units of 8 types of agricultural machinery, including harvesters and a new potato sorting system. In addition to equipment support, the initiative offers training in mechanized cultivation techniques, on-site consultations, and demonstrations of planting and harvesting, along with agricultural materials like fertilizers. By adapting existing machinery to local conditions, Cheongju aims to establish a replicable model of phased mechanization that can later be extended to soybeans and other major field crops in the region. The economic impact is already promising: labor time per hectare is expected to drop from 16.2 to 8.9 hours, while production costs are projected to decrease by approximately 45% (from 2,934,000 to 1,894,000 won). Combined with strategic yield payments, overall farm income could rise to 2.8 times that of rice cultivation. As Cheongju City Agricultural Technology Center Director Choi Joo-i emphasized, this project is about building a sustainable foundation for cooperative farming, reducing management expenses, and ensuring stable agricultural earnings—with continued support for expanding mechanization across the region in the years ahead.