Hwasun-gun Recruiting Candidates for 'Return-to-Farming Agricultural Startup and Housing Purchase Support Project'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Young-gyun] Hwasun County, Jeollanam-do (County Governor Gu Chung-gon) announced on the 27th that it will recruit candidates for the second half of the ‘Return-to-Farming Agricultural Startup and Housing Purchase Support Project’ from next month 1st until July 10th.

If selected as a beneficiary, agricultural startup funds will be provided as loans with an interest rate of 2% (5-year grace period, 10-year installment repayment) up to a maximum of 300 million KRW, and housing purchase funds up to 75 million KRW.

This recruitment targets ‘return-to-farming individuals’ who have continuously lived in urban areas for more than one year before moving to rural areas and have been residing in rural areas for less than five years, and ‘non-agricultural residents in rural areas’ who live in rural areas but are not engaged in agriculture.

Applicants must be household heads under the age of 65 and have completed more than 100 hours of education related to return-to-farming and farming to apply.

There is no age limit for the household head for housing purchase funds, but non-agricultural residents in rural areas are not eligible for support.

Also, those who have jobs in industries other than agriculture at the time of application, holders of business registration certificates in other industries, those whose comprehensive income excluding agriculture last year was 37 million KRW or more, those who have not fulfilled military service obligations, those currently overdue with financial institutions, or those undergoing rehabilitation cannot receive support.

The county plans to select beneficiaries after reviewing the feasibility of the business plan, appropriateness of the loan repayment plan, awareness of business guidelines, and willingness to settle in farming.

In-depth interview evaluations by the selection committee are mandatory, and applicants must attend the interview.

Application forms and other submission documents can be downloaded from the ‘Return-to-Farming and Return-to-Village’ information section on the Agricultural Technology Center’s website.

Previously, since 2009 until last year, the county selected 167 return-to-farming individuals as beneficiaries of startup funds and provided support. In the first half of this year, it supported 10 people with over 2.6 billion KRW in startup funds, which have been used for agricultural startups and housing purchases.

An official from the Agricultural Technology Center said, “This project is very interested in supporting new farmers to reduce their burdens and help them settle in rural areas,” and added, “We hope many return-to-farming individuals will use the startup funds as a stepping stone to grow into successful farmers.”

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