On the 4th, the Ministry of Agriculture , Food and Rural Affairs allocated 45.6 billion won to new R&D projects for 2026, aimed at fostering the transition to an AX system and the green bio industry. The project focuses on innovation across the entire agricultural and food industry cycle, including high-value-added foods, technology commercialization, and intelligent agriculture infrastructure, while broadening the scope for participation by startups and the private investment ecosystem.
Details and schedule
The detailed projects proposed by the government included "High Value-Added Food Technology Development," "Technology Commercialization Support," and "Climate Change Response Intelligent Agricultural Base Management Technology Development." A budget of 11,500 was proposed for "High Value-Added Food Technology Development," of which 2,800 were classified as new projects. Within the "Technology Commercialization Support," "Support for Startup of Excellent Agricultural and Food Convergence Technology," announced on the 29th of last month, was proposed as a new 500 out of a total of 1,880. "Climate Change Response Intelligent Agricultural Base Management Technology Development" received 1,313 budgets, all of which are ongoing projects.
This new KRW 45.6 billion in support is structured to support innovation initiatives across production, processing, distribution, and consumption through two pillars: AX conversion and green bio. In particular, the budget allocation, including a startup support track, aims to bridge the gap between technology verification and commercialization (aka the "valley of death"), which will accelerate early-stage companies' entry into the verification and pilot stages.
Startup/Investment Perspective
As new R&D in the agricultural and food sectors increases, public funding proactively intervenes in the early stages, when technological risks are high, thereby driving private capital inflows. High-value-added food technologies are a category that entails product differentiation and cost improvements. Given the high cost of verification leading to commercialization, R&D support effectively shields startups from technological advancement and investment rounds. Entrepreneurship tracks, such as the "Agricultural and Food Excellence and Convergence Technology Startup Support," encompass the potential for post-project commercialization, making it advantageous for the private sector to explore various collaborative options, such as matching investments and joint demonstrations.
Meanwhile, projects addressing intelligent agricultural infrastructure, such as "Development of Intelligent Agricultural Infrastructure Management Technology for Climate Change Response," are directly linked to data collection and analysis and field automation. In the agricultural sector, the market for automation technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous driving is generally considered to be gradually moving from the proof-of-concept (PoC) stage to field application, driven by falling sensor and communication costs and expanding data infrastructure.
From an investment perspective, green bio and intelligent agriculture are long-term, deep-tech sectors requiring time for technology verification, licensing, and supply chain establishment. This KRW 45.6 billion in new project support will strengthen the risk-sharing structure, with the public sector supporting the R&D and initial demonstration phases of this cycle while the private sector allocates resources to commercialization and market expansion. If the project announcement, selection, and implementation processes are designed to simultaneously consider both practicality (applicability to farmers and food companies) and commercialization pathways (cost structure, distribution system, certification, and standards), the likelihood of attracting follow-up investment will increase.
Ultimately, under the overall direction of AX transition and green bio cultivation, the link between the startup ecosystem and private investment can be strengthened when high-value-added food technology, startup support, and intelligent agriculture-based projects operate in a complementary manner. This new R&D support serves as an initial stepping stone to solidify that connection.
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