1分6合

Rural Development Administration (RDA) Administrator Cho Chae-ho, center, talks about RDA's accomplishments through official development assistance in the agriculture field during a press conference held at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. From left, RDA Director General of Cooperation Bureau Kwon Taek-ryoun, Cho, and RDA director of International Technology Cooperation Center Kim Hwang-yong. / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Rural Development Administration (RDA) hosted the "Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) Policy Forum with the Administrator of RDA" at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday, highlighting the RDA's official development assistance (ODA) in agricultural technology, future direction and its accomplishments.

"With the experience accumulated in the past 60 years, RDA will focus on achieving self-sufficiency for developing countries and work proactively with the international community to resolve globally common issues through cooperation and solidarity," RDA's administrator Cho Chae-ho said.

RDA addressed three core strategies to overcome the global food crisis. First, disseminating country-specific specialized crops and innovative technologies through private-to-public cooperation along with the cooperation of other ministries. Second, secure momentum for food security in different parts of the world through strategic cooperation including with international research institutes, and support the innovation of agricultural technology in developing countries utilizing smart IT applications. Lastly, by expanding cooperation with international organizations such as the FAO and World Bank to resolve common agricultural issues such as assistance in digital agriculture and the use of edible insects.

The administration is promoting R&D-based agricultural technology cooperation to improve productivity and is currently in cooperation with more than 150 research institutions in 52 countries around the world.

With the help of the Korea Project on International Agriculture (KOPIA), Cambodia developed its own variety of corn for the first time; Ecuador succeeded in the production of seed potato technology from Korea which contributed to the increase of its production and Paraguay discovered a rice variety highly resistant to pests.