Kaohsiung Agrinfo Ecosystem - Agriculture Bureau
Kaohsiung Agrinfo Ecosystem establishes a unified system mechanism that integrates cross-domain big data, including geographic information of 210 regions from the Kaohsiung Agricultural Survey, disaster prevention alerts for 64 types of crops, and over 300 items of vegetable and fruit production and marketing information. It provides farmers with smart services such as disaster prevention and smart production and marketing, assisting them in making informed decisions during different production stages. It also helps farmers plan production and marketing strategies based on consumer behavior trends.
Through data visualization, Kaohsiung Agrinfo Ecosystem supports farmers in setting up IoT systems to monitor microclimates in their fields. Customizable smart services, such as smart agricultural machinery and smart management systems, enable farmers to access smart agriculture services using just a smartphone.
The services include climate analysis, disaster prevention alert analysis, daily market transaction price and volume analysis, AI-based profitability analysis for crop cultivation, and image recognition for monitoring crop maturity, irrigation needs, and more. Additionally, Kaohsiung Agrinfo Ecosystem has launched a subsidy program for smart agricultural equipment and established a service platform to foster public-private collaboration. This initiative aims to accelerate the implementation of smart technologies, upgrade Kaohsiung's agricultural industry, and realize the vision of "Smart Kaohsiung" with technology-driven agricultural development.
Support for Agricultural Transformation
To assist in transforming Kaohsiung's agricultural industry, the Agriculture Bureau has introduced smart agriculture technologies and labor-saving production equipment. The "Smart Agriculture Subsidy Program" supports four categories: smart sensing systems, smart environmental control systems, smart production machinery, and smart services. As of 2024 (Year 113 in Taiwan's calendar), the program has subsidized 109 agricultural sites covering 968 hectares and driven approximately NT$51.54 million in industry investment.
Awards and Recognition
Kaohsiung Agrinfo Ecosystem received the 2022 Smart City Innovative Application Award in 2022 (Year 111). It was also recognized with the Global ICT Excellence Award - Digital Inclusion Award Honorable Mention for its project "No Need to Ask Heaven! One-Hand Access to Agricultural Information" and won the Asia-Pacific First Prize of the Digital Government Service Innovation Award. In 2023 (Year 112), it received the Smart City Special Award in Seoul, South Korea, along with recognition from the CommonWealth City Governance Excellence Awards in the Social Progress category. In 2024 (Year 113), it earned the Government Service Award - Digital Innovation Value-Added Group, often referred to as the "Oscars of Public Sector Awards," presented by Taiwan's Executive Yuan.
Smart City Exhibition Cases
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Zhi Shi Liang Guo: IoT Information Control System and Smart Control Box
Theme Introduction: Comprehensive Smart Sustainable Farm
Implementing Company: Zhi Shi Liang Guo Company
Zhi Shi Liang Guo integrates IoT information control systems and smart control boxes to create unique farm solutions for each client. The customized systems and equipment can monitor plant growth environments and soil conditions in real-time. Clients can determine suitable management modes based on the data and use Line for remote control, achieving optimized cost-effectiveness through smart farm management. Zhi Shi Liang Guo's smart agricultural solutions help clients increase productivity, reduce costs, and achieve sustainable operations.
Field Introduction
Fuchun Mountain Farm was founded by Chen Wen-yi, who returned to his hometown to engage in farming. He has been cultivating papaya for 11 years and is known as an "engineer on the farm." Using his engineering expertise and smart agricultural tools, he has turned papaya into premium products, even exporting them overseas. The quality is praised by discerning Japanese customers. Chen's philosophy is simple: to do something well, you must do it to the best of your ability.
Key Implementations
The farm has implemented a smart water and fertilizer system, a sprinkler cooling system, a digital recording system, and a disaster prevention Line notification system. These systems allow for more accurate control of farm conditions, increase yields, and stabilize production. They also enable the farm to apply for excellent farm verification, enhancing the credibility of its products.
Achievements
The farm has saved 416 hours of labor annually; the sprinkler cooling system stabilizes environmental factors, overcoming red spider mite issues, increasing fruiting rates by 20%, and boosting yields by 10%. The smart water and fertilizer system uses water more precisely, saving 75% of water and 30% of fertilizer, and reducing pesticide use by approximately NT$100,000.
Key Introductions
The introduction of smart water and fertilizer systems, sprinkler cooling systems, digital recording systems, and disaster prevention Line notification systems allows for more accurate control of farm conditions, increased and stabilized yields, and enables farmers to apply for excellent farm verification, enhancing the credibility of their products.
Implementation Outcomes
In two major areas, a total of 416 hours of labor were saved annually. The sprinkler cooling system stabilized environmental factors, overcoming red spider mite issues, increasing fruiting rates by 20% and yields by 10%. After implementing the smart water and fertilizer system, water usage became more precise, saving 75% of water, 30% of fertilizer, and reducing pesticide use by approximately NT$100,000.
2. Hitspectra Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd Vision: AI Vision Recognition System (Tomatoes)
Theme Introduction: Introduction of AI technology in agriculture for sorting and grading, ensuring precise grading and quality assurance.
Implementing Company: Hitspectra Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd
Hitspectra Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd utilizes hyperspectral imaging technology combined with image sensors and AI algorithms to create high-resolution hyperspectral imaging instruments. By extracting useful information from the spectral data, it creates valuable knowledge for humans and society.
Field Introduction
Farmers at Yasun Farm and Taowang Farm primarily rely on manual sorting to assess the quality of small tomatoes. Although this method ensures basic inspection, it is inefficient, lacks consistent standards, and is prone to errors due to fatigue. Moreover, manual inspection cannot perform large-scale data recording and analysis, making production management lack quantitative evidence and difficult to optimize the fruit selection process.
Key Introductions
The automated inspection and grading equipment uses image recognition technology to quickly detect skin defects on small tomatoes and classify them based on size, color, and appearance defects to distinguish between high-quality and low-quality fruits. This equipment can identify issues such as cracked, black-headed, or abnormal fruits and automatically store images while creating a quality database, making production management more data-driven and efficient. With the assistance of AI technology, the sorting machine ensures consistent judgment standards for each tomato, reducing errors in manual inspection and increasing the accuracy and efficiency of sorting.
Implementation Outcomes
The system can identify one tomato in just two seconds, significantly increasing the sorting speed while recording the pass rate. It ensures the accuracy of each sorting process, reducing labor costs while increasing production volume.