450,000 Farm Households Receive 300,000 KRW Voucher... Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Passes 185.7 Billion KRW Supplementary Budget

100 Million Won for Flowers and More... Measures to Secure Labor Supply During Peak Farming Season

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 25th that the first supplementary budget for 2021 and the fund operation plan amendment for COVID-19 damage support were approved by the National Assembly, providing an additional total of 185.7 billion KRW to the agriculture and rural sectors.

The supplementary budget newly includes 165.4 billion KRW in direct support in the form of vouchers targeting small-scale farmers vulnerable to COVID-19 damage, as well as sectors affected by restrictions on dining businesses and school attendance.

The Ministry will provide a 'Temporary Management Support Voucher' worth 138 billion KRW to approximately 430,000 small-scale farms, mostly operated by elderly farmers who are relatively vulnerable to COVID-19 damage. The support targets farms that received small-scale direct payments for the first time last year. The support amount of about 300,000 KRW per farm will be provided in voucher form, following the example of the Youth Farming Settlement Support Fund, which specifies eligible industries.

For five agricultural sectors severely affected by COVID-19 quarantine measures, including floriculture and eco-friendly agricultural products for school meals, a 'COVID-19 Overcome Farming Support Voucher' worth up to 1 million KRW will be provided. With a total scale of 27.4 billion KRW, about 20,000 farms and rural experience villages affected by quarantine measures such as dining business and school attendance restrictions, and travel and gathering restraint measures, including floriculture, eco-friendly agricultural products for school meals, winter watermelons, horse production farms, and rural experience villages, are eligible.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

To support farms struggling with labor supply due to restrictions on foreign workers' entry, the government will subsidize domestic labor dispatch costs and increase support for improving foreign workers' housing from the original 100 million KRW to 5 billion KRW.

Additionally, 1.5 billion KRW will be increased for childcare rooms during busy farming seasons to prevent damage to farming activities, and 12.2 billion KRW will be allocated to secure digital jobs for youth and women in the agriculture and food sectors.

Beyond the supplementary budget, support through fund adjustments includes an additional 4 billion KRW for promoting floriculture consumption, 7 billion KRW for floriculture farm management funds, 4 billion KRW for establishing eco-friendly agricultural product sales centers, and 5 billion KRW for comprehensive mountain distribution funds, expanding market and loan support for farms facing management difficulties.

Kim Jong-hoon, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "The vouchers for COVID-19 affected farms were significantly reflected at the National Assembly stage, so this supplementary budget will help farms. We will promptly finalize the implementation plans for the reflected supplementary budget projects and ensure smooth execution for rapid damage support."

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