From Harvesting 11cm Mini Cucumbers to Festival Promotion: The 3-Week Challenge of Smart Farm Interns

According to a video released on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs YouTube channel, the three-week activity process of interns growing mini cucumbers in a smart farm and planning marketing and distribution using them has been revealed.

Characteristics of 11cm Mini Cucumbers Grown with Smart Farm Technology

The smart farm where the interns are active is equipped with a system that can control the greenhouse environment through mobile devices. The mini cucumbers grown here are characterized by having thinner skins compared to regular cucumbers, less bitterness, and providing a crunchy texture. In the video, the interns experienced the harvesting process by personally checking the mini cucumbers, which are at an appropriate size for harvesting, around 11cm to 13cm.

In the cultivation process, technology to control the greenhouse environment using computers is utilized, and the interns learned the characteristics of the variety by tasting the fresh cucumbers they harvested themselves. In particular, the harvested cucumbers are scheduled to be sold at the Boryeong Mud Festival site in the future.

Practical Projects for Festival Site Promotion and Foodservice Distribution

The interns did not stop at mere cultivation but applied ideas they planned themselves to practical marketing. At the Boryeong Mud Festival site, they conducted cucumber tasting events for visitors. Initially, they planned a gacha-style (draw) event, but through a practical planning process, they changed it to an event using flower trays considering costs and prepared ways to encourage participation using QR codes.

Additionally, an intern majoring in institutional foodservice formulated a business direction to distribute the mini cucumbers in cooperation with the Boryeong City Center for Children's Foodservice Management in 2027 so that more people can encounter them. To this end, they also directly planned four recipes that can be used in foodservice settings. The interns also carried out activities to increase brand awareness by producing Instagram Reels content, and some of the produced content achieved a performance of approximately 30,000 views.

Having completed the three-week process, the interns learned the overall system of the smart farm and gained practical experience by performing projects connected to their respective career paths.