Jeonnam Province Invests 141.4 Billion Won to Establish Distribution and Consumption Infrastructure for Agricultural and Marine Products

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 27th that it will invest 141.4 billion KRW this year to build a foundation encompassing agricultural product production, distribution, and consumption.

This budget is an increase of 11 billion KRW compared to last year.

To this end, the province has prepared 13 projects across 5 sectors, focusing on expanding agricultural product production and distribution hubs through scaling and modernizing production area distribution facilities, and establishing a safe food supply foundation from farm to table.

The budget for each sector includes ▲111 billion KRW for support of Agricultural Product Production Area Distribution Centers ▲7.1 billion KRW for installation of cold storage ▲4.8 billion KRW for joint marketing and shipment support of agricultural products ▲1.4 billion KRW for improvement of excellent agricultural product (GAP) facilities and safety assurance projects ▲115 billion KRW for school free meal and supply of eco-friendly agricultural product ingredients.

For the core Agricultural Product Production Area Distribution Centers (APC), the province will promote projects at four locations, the most nationwide, increasing the budget by 10.4 billion KRW from last year to scale standardized agricultural products and strengthen distribution competitiveness in production areas.

Small-sized (3-pyeong) cold storage units will be supported with 800 units, an increase of 133 units from last year, and 45 new medium-sized (20-pyeong) cold storage units will be supported to regulate shipment and improve product quality during harvest season.

Additionally, the distribution sector of 40 producer organizations involved in joint sorting, shipment, and promotional marketing of agricultural products will be strengthened to improve distribution efficiency and increase farm income.

To ensure the safety of agricultural products, the province aims to nurture 13,000 GAP-certified farms in major production areas by supporting 1.4 billion KRW for GAP facility supplementation, certification fees, and safety analysis costs.

Furthermore, Jeonnam Province will support 54.8 billion KRW in free meal expenses to supply safe agricultural products to 140,000 elementary, middle, and alternative school students within the province as meal ingredients.

Last year, Jeonnam Province initiated the nationwide expanded project for supplying eco-friendly agricultural product ingredients for school meals and Non-GMO ingredient purchase costs, investing 60.1 billion KRW, the largest scale nationwide.

This will help promote students' physical development and establish a foundation for supplying safe agricultural products for school meals.

The province will also proactively strengthen food welfare services. For the first time this year, it will implement the ‘Agricultural Food Voucher Project’ targeting low-income vulnerable groups, supporting 2.1 billion KRW for purchasing ingredients such as vegetables and fruits, aiming to resolve nutritional imbalance between classes and promote agricultural product consumption.

Soyoungho, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “With changes in agricultural product consumption trends and diversification of distribution channels, improving quality and securing stable sales channels have become important. We will support safe and healthy agricultural products on consumers’ tables through efficient production and distribution.”

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