KT&G Practices Coexistence with Farmers for 15 Years through Volunteer Harvesting at Leaf Tobacco Farms

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] KT&G announced on the 16th that it conducted a harvesting volunteer activity around Asan City, Chungnam Province on the 13th to help leaf tobacco farms struggling with labor shortages.

Leaf tobacco farming harvests take place in midsummer, during July and August. Mechanization is difficult, and most harvesting is done manually, requiring a large workforce. It is also known to be a very labor-intensive task. In particular, domestic farms are facing difficulties securing labor due to the COVID-19 crisis and the continuous decline of the rural population.

In response, KT&G has been visiting leaf tobacco farms annually since 2007 to continue volunteer activities. This year, employees from the Raw Materials Headquarters and Gimcheon Factory visited a leaf tobacco farm located in Dunpo-myeon, Asan City, helping to harvest about 5,700 kg of leaf tobacco from a 16,000㎡ cultivated area.

KT&G practices coexistence with farmers throughout the year by assisting not only with leaf tobacco harvesting but also with transplanting work in the spring.

Additionally, economic support for the welfare improvement of leaf tobacco farms has been steadily provided. In May, KT&G donated 400 million KRW to support health checkup expenses for cultivators and scholarships for farmers' children. Since 2013, the cumulative support amount has reached 2.854 billion KRW, benefiting 7,957 cultivators.

A KT&G official stated, “We hope this harvesting volunteer activity by our employees has been of some help to farmers struggling with COVID-19 and heatwaves,” and added, “We will continue to coexist with farmers and provide practical support to improve the quality of life for farming households.”

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