Hwasun-gun to Accept Applications for 'Public Interest Direct Payment System' Starting Next Month 1

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Young-gyun] Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Chung-gon) announced on the 29th that from the 1st of next month, applications for the Public Interest Direct Payment will be accepted at the Eup/Myeon Administrative Welfare Centers.

The Public Interest Direct Payment system is a program that provides subsidies to farmers to promote the public functions of agriculture and rural areas, such as food safety and environmental conservation, through agricultural activities.

The Public Interest Direct Payment is divided into Small-scale Direct Payment and Area-based Direct Payment.

The Small-scale Direct Payment is paid annually at 1.2 million KRW regardless of the area of eligible farmland to farms that meet certain requirements.

Also, it is paid on a 'farm unit' basis, not to individual farmers, and the scope of the farm is defined as 'the head of household and household members living together according to the resident registration.'

However, spouses listed on the family relation certificate, direct descendants under 19 years old, and those who have separated households for reasons other than marriage within 3 years are considered the same household and are not paid redundantly.

The Small-scale Direct Payment can only be received if all eight conditions are met.

The total area of eligible farmland owned by all basic direct payment recipients (farmers) within the farm must be 0.5 hectares or less, and the total area of farmland owned by all members of the farm, including non-farmers, must be less than 1.55 hectares.

Each basic direct payment recipient within the farm must have resided in rural areas and engaged in farming for more than 3 years, each must have non-agricultural income below 20 million KRW, and the total non-agricultural income of all members must be less than 45 million KRW.

The Area-based Direct Payment is paid to 'individual farmers' who are not eligible for the Small-scale Direct Payment, and features a regressive system where the payment rate per area decreases as the farmland area increases.

The payment rate varies depending on the location of the eligible farmland, whether it is paddy or dry field, and the standard area, with higher payments given for farmland used for agriculture within agricultural promotion areas.

The standard area is divided into three stages: Section 1 (2 hectares or less), Section 2 (over 2 hectares up to 6 hectares), and Section 3 (over 6 hectares up to 30 hectares), with payment rates ranging from a minimum of 1 million KRW to a maximum of 2.05 million KRW per hectare.

The payment cap area is 30 hectares for farmers and 50 hectares for agricultural corporations. However, farmers who have legitimately received direct payments in the past are recognized for the excess area if they exceeded the payment cap area last year.

To receive the Public Interest Direct Payment, 17 compliance items such as environmental protection, ecological conservation, community revitalization, and food safety must be fulfilled.

If not complied with, 10% of the total basic direct payment amount is deducted per compliance item, and if the same obligation is violated again next year, twice the previous deduction rate is applied, up to a maximum of 40% deduction.

To prevent confusion on site and ensure smooth implementation of the system, three compliance items?agricultural waste disposal, village community joint participation, and preparation and storage of farming records?will be issued warnings until next year, and the deduction rates will be gradually increased from 2022 to 2024.

A county official said, “We have prepared so that eligible farms and farmers can fully understand the direct payment reform system and precautions and smoothly apply and register in line with the implementation of the Public Interest Direct Payment system on the 1st of next month.” He added, “Please be especially careful as even fraudulent applications can result in disadvantages, and cooperate in establishing the Public Interest Direct Payment system.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.