Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Core Research Institute of Intelligent Robots (Director Kim Hyung-seok) held the ‘4th International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture’ on November 27 and 28 in Engineering Building 8, Room 203. 

The workshop, held in a hybrid online and on-site format, brought together researchers and industry representatives from 22 countries, including South Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Germany and Uruguay, to concentrate on the application of AI technologies in agriculture.

The workshop featured presentations across specialized topics, during which technologies and research outcomes applicable to real agricultural settings were shared.

In the first session, Professor Kim Jong-yun (Korea University) presented root‑zone sensing-based water and nutrient management technologies; Dr. Cecilia Berueta (National Agricultural Research Institute, Uruguay) presented the tomato fertigation decision system (FertiRIEGO); and Professor Lee Ji-hoon (JBNU) presented an ethylene gas sensing technology using metal-oxide nanofibers.

In the following session, Professor Peter Block (JADS, the Netherlands) introduced 3D deep learning-based precision agriculture robots; Shim So-hee, Head of Technology at ioCrops, presented a greenhouse automation robot platform; and Professor Jorge Sanchez (University of Almería, Spain) shared strategies for greenhouse operation in response to climate change, drawing strong interest.

On the second day, discussions expanded to protected cultivation and livestock sectors. Professor Nazim Gruda (University of Bonn, Germany) presented strategies for implementing climate-smart agriculture; Professor Zhang Chuanlei (Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China) presented AI-based segmentation techniques for crop disease images; Dr. Alvaro Fuentes (JBNU) presented cattle behavior recognition and animal welfare monitoring; and Dr. Reza (Chungnam National University) presented AI-based smart swine behavior analysis.

Presenters emphasized that “agriculture is the sector where the convergence of sensors, imaging, data and robotics is most active,” and that “AI can improve both productivity and sustainability.” They commonly highlighted the importance of data standardization, field applicability, farmer education and international collaborative research networks.

Kim Hyung-seok, director of JBNU’s Core Research Institute of Intelligent Robots, said, “This workshop was more than an academic event to discuss AI technologies; it was a forum for research collaboration aimed at solving real-world agricultural problems. JBNU will work with global research institutions to advance as a smart agriculture platform university that contributes to solving agricultural, food and environmental challenges.”