The Rural Development Administration will expand agricultural technology cooperation with the Mongolian government in the livestock and food security sectors.
According to the Rural Development Administration on the 12th, the agency signed a "livestock and food security agricultural technology memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Veterinary Office" with the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia at the Mongolian government complex on the 9th.
Rural Development Administration Administrator Lee Seung-don visited Mongolia, gave an interview to local media, and said the achievements of agricultural cooperation were introduced. Lee said on Facebook the same day that "the success of local cultivation last year of our variety 'Jinbueolbyeo,' which showed the possibility of solving Mongolia's 40-year-old challenge in rice cultivation, and various examples of cooperation, including in livestock and feed, were introduced."
Lee added, "These are achievements made in the field through the tireless efforts of Oh Myeong-gyu, head of the overseas agricultural technology development (KOPIA) Mongolia Center, and its staff," and said, "We will further expand cooperation so that K-agricultural technology can bring practical change to Mongolia's agricultural sector."
With this agreement, the Rural Development Administration plans to increase milk production from 13.8 liters (ℓ) last year to 16.5 ℓ in 2028. It also plans to raise livestock farmers' income by more than 25% from last year. The agency said exports to Mongolia of Korean agricultural inputs such as frozen bovine semen, embryos, veterinary medicines, and onion-cultivation machinery are also expected to gain momentum.
The two countries agreed to cooperate on crop variety development and distribution, seed multiplication technology, and improving crop productivity and quality. They will strengthen cooperation on improving livestock genetic capacity and feed production technology, and ease regulations such as simplifying the registration of veterinary medicines. Training on how to use Korean pesticides and fertilizers will be provided, and Mongolia's pesticide registration procedures will also be simplified.
Building on the Korea-Mongolia summit, the Rural Development Administration has cooperated with Mongolia for more than 10 years through the KOPIA Mongolia project, which began in 2014. It distributed total mixed fermented feed (TMF) technology locally, and since last year has expanded the livestock pilot project to 150 farms across 10 districts.