One of the most important and essential elements in agriculture, the core of our food supply, is to have great soil. The level of moisture in the soil is a key factor that can determine the flavor and ripeness of produce, as well as the success of the year's harvest. Up until today, farmers have had to rely on weather forecasts to predict the level of moisture in their soil.

However, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced on January 15 that it has now launched a new online service to provide information about changes in the level of soil moisture in farmland nationwide.


The RDA has set up soil moisture detectors at more than 100 locations in farmland nationwide to collect accurate data. Each detector is located about 10 centimeters underground and indicates the volume of moisture in the soil with a percentage. The value is commonly between 5 and 50 percent. The lower the estimated value, the less moisture the soil contains.

The datasets of estimated moisture levels are then evaluated and approved by agricultural experts, double checking with soil samples from each region, before being made public at the RDA's new online feature (http://weather.rda.go.kr).


The launch of the new online service is expected to provide a wide range of benefits to farmers. First and foremost, farmers and Agricultural Technology Centers will now be able to access more accurate information about the level of moisture in their soil in their region. This will allow them to make better predictions and to better protect against drought. Also, farmers and researchers can utilize the information to plan water management schemes and to better predict crop situations.

The RDA said that the information offered through the new online service is limited by the detectors in the soil and that they will carry out further research into making it possible to install detectors even further afield, including in areas of active farming.

The map and the details of each region are available at http://weather.rda.go.kr

By Lee Seung-ah
Photos: the RDA
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr