Farmers and rural development agencies get a one-stop view of agricultural science and technology information

2024.07.07. The Fair Economy — The Rural Development Administration announced on the 7th that it has completed development of the key functions of ASTIS (Agricultural Science and Technology Information Service), a system it has been building since 2022 to provide digital rural extension services, and has begun full-scale operation.

ASTIS (Agricultural Science and Technology Information Service) is a system that collects, manages and provides agricultural science and technology information in electronic form, produced by the Rural Development Administration, provincial agricultural technology institutes, city and county agricultural technology centers, and farming sites.

Agricultural science and technology information refers to scientific farming service information that local rural development agencies provide to farmers and others. It includes information on rural guidance education and training programs, farming consultations and on-site technical support, and agricultural technology information.

General users, including farmers, can access the ASTIS system (https://astis.rda.go.kr) and, after registering as members, check their history of using scientific farming facilities, participation in pilot projects, farming consultations, and completed training courses.

They can also handle civil affairs tasks such as requesting safety analysis of agricultural products, pest diagnosis, booking the use of the comprehensive agricultural product processing center, and applying for farming consultations by field at local agricultural technology centers.

For staff at rural development agencies, the system enables them to provide personalized information to individual farmers based on data such as their history of using scientific farming services and outcomes from project participation. It also allows them to use statistical data by work area to make data-driven policy decisions and formulate project plans.

The Rural Development Administration plans to hold regular practical working meetings for staff in charge and an innovation best-practice competition for local rural development agencies to expand the rollout of its digital rural guidance programs.

Kwon Cheol-hui, director general of the Rural Development Administration's Rural Support Bureau, said, "We will continue to improve and refine the system by reflecting user feedback, so that farmers and other policy customers can conveniently use rural extension services."