A delegation composed of members of the Kunsan Agricultural Association in South Korea recently visited Yantai in East China's Shandong province to promote agricultural cooperation between the two regions.

During their visit to the Smart Agriculture Demonstration Base of the Yantai Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS), the delegation inspected modern plant factories and digital vegetable technology demonstration areas, gaining a detailed understanding of how intelligent environmental control and IoT data management are being applied in the cultivation of crops such as tomatoes.

"Both Kunsan and Yantai are coastal cities with similar agricultural resources, meaning there is vast potential for collaboration in digitalization and ecological technologies," said Zhang Yingjie from YAAS's Department of External Cooperation. He also added that both sides plan to enhance technology sharing in areas such as the standardized construction of intelligent greenhouses and the cultivation of crops adaptable to marine climates.

During their visit to the Wheat and Maize National Engineering Technology Center, the delegation toured core research platforms including the wheat resource precision evaluation laboratory, stress resistance laboratory, and breeding accelerator. They offered high praise for YAAS' achievements in cultivating salt-alkali tolerant wheat varieties and applying gene editing technology.

Since becoming sister-cities in 1994, Yantai and Kunsan have maintained close cooperation in the field of agriculture.

Wang Xinyu, director of the Department of External Cooperation at YAAS, stated that the visit by the Kunsan Agricultural Association is not only for technical exchange but also to further integrate agricultural resources. He hopes that in the future, both sides will promote the exchange of technological achievements in biological breeding and facility cultivation, and that Yantai will introduce high value-added specialty crops from South Korea for trial cultivation.