Support for Flower Farms Hit Hard by COVID-19... Purchase of 3 Million Flowers

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Promotes Expansion of Flower Consumption and Farmer Support

A shop owner is organizing flowers in a greenhouse at a flower shop in Goyang Flower Wholesale Market, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province. Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the year-end and New Year special demand for the nationwide flower industry has disappeared for the second consecutive year. Various events, festivals, graduation, and entrance ceremonies have been either canceled or held online, causing prices to plummet and pushing the flower industry to the brink of survival. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has stepped in to help flower farms nationwide that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 31st that it will implement measures to revitalize flower consumption and support farms starting next month.

Generally, flower consumption is concentrated during the graduation and entrance ceremony season in February and March, but due to the impact of COVID-19, there are concerns that transactions will decrease and prices will fall.

From the 1st of next month, 21 organizations including affiliated agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rural Development Administration, the Korea Forest Service, and the NongHyup will purchase 3 million flowers in bulk. Local governments will carry out campaigns to expand consumption within their regions.

The Ministry has reduced the auction commission at the Yangjae-dong Flower Market in Seoul from 7% to 6% until the end of June. The interest rate on advance payments for farm shipments to wholesale markets, amounting to 7 billion KRW this year, will be lowered from 1.5% to 1% until the end of the year.

Support will be provided for agricultural management recovery funds up to 2 billion KRW for individuals and 3 billion KRW for corporations. Loans will be offered at an annual interest rate of 1%, with a 3-year grace period and 7-year repayment plan.

Farmers facing management crises due to COVID-19 who apply for policy funds will be granted either low-interest refinancing of existing loans or new loans.

Additionally, online and offline promotional support and flower consumption publicity will be conducted simultaneously.

Kim Heejung, Director of the Horticultural Management Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, urged, "We ask government ministries, local governments, and public institutions to actively promote flower consumption to support flower farms and the industry struggling due to COVID-19."

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