Graduate students in the Department of Smart Farm at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) were recognized for their outstanding research at a prestigious domestic conference in the field of agricultural environment.

JBNU announced on the 22nd that Seok Seung-won, a first-year master's student, and Kim Ha-jong, a third-year undergraduate student, both from Professor Tae-gon Kim's laboratory in the Department of Smart Farm, each received the Excellent Poster Presentation Award at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Korean Society of Soil and Fertilizer, held recently in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Seok Seung-won presented research outcomes under the title 'Development of an APEX-Based Machine-Learning Meta-Model for Nationwide Simulation of Nutrient Runoff from Agricultural Lands.' The study is characterized by integrating machine-learning techniques into the existing APEX model, which predicts nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from agricultural fields, thereby dramatically reducing simulation computation time. It was also evaluated as showing potential for use in formulating climate change-responsive agricultural and environmental management strategies by establishing a nationwide nutrient runoff analysis framework linked to future climate scenarios.

Kim Ha-jong drew attention by proposing the advancement of digital agricultural services through 'Development of a Web-Based Integrated Water and Fertilizer Prescription Service for Open-Field Crops Using Heuktoram.' The research focused on improving the field usability of the national agricultural information platform 'Heuktoram' system. To this end, it implemented improvements to address-based grid-unit prescription functions, established a foundation for expanding crop data, and developed a mobile web implementation of the water prescription function, demonstrating the feasibility of a farm-customized agricultural prescription system.

Professor Tae-gon Kim said, 'The students were highly evaluated for contributing to the resolution of agricultural environmental problems through smart agriculture research that integrates advanced technologies,' and added, 'We will continue to lead the agricultural digital transition through field-oriented research.'

Meanwhile, the Department of Smart Farm at JBNU conducts interdisciplinary education and research integrating agriculture, environment, ICT, and AI, and strives to develop professional talent to lead future smart agriculture.