상도역에서 시작하는 도시형 스마트팜<br /><br />Urban smart farms have been popping up all over Seoul in recent years.<br />These days you can find them in the most unlikely places,... even in and around the capital's subway stations.<br />Our Kim Bo-kyoung ventured out to get us better acquainted with these so-called 'metro farms'.<br />There is something curious happening at a Seoul metro station,... where you can see an indoor vertical farm.<br />The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Farm8, an agriculture firm,... recently opened the first metro farm in South Korea... at Sangdo Station on Seoul Subway Line 7.<br />They are promoting this metro farm... as a way to effectively utilize unused spaces and carry out urban farming.<br />Sangdo Metro Farm is an urban smart farm which uses Information and Communication Technology to control the farm's conditions, making it easier to grow crops.<br />Exotic vegetable breeds are cultivated... with the help of an automated system, which manages temperature, humidity, acidity and provides them with nutrients.<br />It also allows partial access to people passing by,... and a viewing window where they can look at how smart farms operate,... while also providing clean air.<br />"If we conduct smart farming in metro stations, plants can use carbon dioxide which people breathe out for photosynthesis, and people can breathe in the oxygen that plants produce."<br />There is also a facility called auto-farm in which a robot manages the entire farming process.<br />This container-sized indoor farm cultivates young leaves for harvest, when they are fully grown.<br />People can enjoy the vegetables that are harvested from these facilities at a cafe located right next to the farms,... in the form of salads and juices.<br />"I came in here for the first time after just passing by for several days. I think it is very nice, that it provides us with oxygen and fresh vegetables within a city."<br />Another urban smart farm has also opened at Dapsimni Station,... and they will open in 3 other subway locations including Chungjeong-ro Station within this year.<br />The city government and Farm8 are looking forward to creating more urban smart farms in the long-term,… so that people can enjoy crops at lower prices and become more aware of the latest in agricultural technology.<br />Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.<br />
