On November 4, President Lee Jae-myung emphasized the importance of research and development (R&D) investment in his ‘2026 Budget Proposal Address,’ stating that next year’s budget is the first to open the era of artificial intelligence (AI). He highlighted the need to invest in future industries and core technologies such as AI and biotechnology to overcome low growth and create national growth momentum through science and technology. The government’s R&D budget for next year has been confirmed at approximately 35.5 trillion won, the largest ever.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has allocated 261.7 billion won for R&D in the agricultural and food sector for next year. This is an increase of about 15.5% compared to the previous year, aimed at addressing issues such as aging rural populations, labor shortages, and climate crises by enhancing the technological foundation and accelerating innovation. The ministry plans to focus on future growth industries such as smart agriculture and green biotechnology.
The ministry’s R&D budget for next year will be used in five main areas. These include the production technology innovation sector, which aims to lead smart agriculture innovation technologies, the bio-resource industrialization sector for developing green bio-materials, the climate and disease response sector for developing technologies to address climate crises and animal disease prevention, the future food industry sector to secure global competitiveness for K-food, and the innovation ecosystem sector for technology commercialization, workforce training, and research infrastructure expansion.
The ministry has also allocated a total of 24.8 billion won for seven new projects, including AI-based agricultural transformation technologies, intelligent agricultural work collaboration industrialization, overcoming intractable diseases in pets, and responding to pharmaceutical raw material supply chains based on bio-resources. The new R&D projects for next year focus on applying advanced technologies such as AI, biotechnology, and robotics to agriculture to improve productivity and efficiency and bring about substantial changes in the agricultural field.