Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic evaluation of a smart farm investment for tomatoes and strawberries. In addition, the potential adoption rate of the smart farm was derived for different scenarios. This study analyzed the economic evaluation with the net present value (NPV) method and estimated the adoption potential of the smart farm with the trade-off analysis, minimum data (TOA-MD) model. The results were as follows: The analysis of the net present value shows that the smart farm investment for the two crops are economically feasible, and the minimum prices for the tomatoes and strawberries should be 1,179 and 3,797 won/kg to secure a sufficient economic feasibility for the smart farm investment. Next, the analysis of the potential adoption rates for smart farms through the TOA-MD model showed that when the support ratio for the adoption of a smart farm system was 50% and the price increase rates were, respectively, - 5, 2.5, 0, 2.5, and 5%, the conversion rates for tomato farms to switch to smart farms were 0.97, 1.78, 3.05, 4.91, and 7.47%, while the ratios of the strawberry farms to switch to smart farms were 0.12, 0.29, 0.65, 1.33, and 2.53%, respectively. This study has some known limitations, but it provides useful information on decision making about smart farm adoption and can contribute to government policies on smart farms.