Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to Pay 2.2 Trillion KRW Basic Public Benefit Subsidies to Over 1.12 Million Farms and Farmers Starting from the 5th

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 4th that it will start paying the 2021 Basic Public Interest Direct Payment from the 5th. Now in its second year of implementation, the Public Interest Direct Payment system is designed to provide direct payments to farmers who meet certain qualifications and comply with requirements, aiming to enhance the public functions of agriculture and rural areas and stabilize farmers' incomes.

The Ministry plans to pay a total of 2.2263 trillion KRW in Basic Public Interest Direct Payments to 1,123,000 farms and farmers (1,083,000 hectares) whose eligibility has been verified. Small-scale direct payments paid per farm amount to 541 billion KRW (451,000 households), and area-based direct payments paid per farmer (including corporations) amount to 1.6853 trillion KRW (672,000 recipients).

The number of Basic Public Interest Direct Payment cases (1,123,000 cases) increased by 2,000 compared to the previous year (1,121,000 cases) due to an increase in eligible recipients for small-scale direct payments. However, the payment area (1,083,000 hectares) decreased by about 45,000 hectares compared to last year (1,128,000 hectares), which is estimated to be due to strengthened pre-verification, natural reduction of farmland, and entry of new farmers.

Looking at the cultivated scale, the total direct payment amount for farms and farmers cultivating between 0.1 hectares and 0.5 hectares is 539 billion KRW, accounting for 24.2% of the total payment amount (2.2263 trillion KRW). This is an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the 22.4% (509.1 billion KRW) paid in the same range last year.

A system to prevent fraudulent claims has also been established. Earlier this year, the Ministry built an integrated verification system and provided prior guidance to prevent ineligible farmland from applying from the application and reception stages, thereby preemptively preventing the possibility of fraudulent claims. The integrated verification system links various administrative information such as resident information and land information with the Public Interest Direct Payment application data to verify in real time whether farmland, farmers, and small-scale farmers meet eligibility requirements. Additionally, after application and reception, it selects inspection targets by linking records such as agricultural material purchase history and residence information, focusing on verifying actual cultivation status.

Compliance inspections regarding the maintenance of farmland shape and function were conducted for direct payment applicants. If violations such as failure to properly maintain or manage farmland or non-compliance with pesticide safety standards were confirmed, direct payments were reduced by 10% for each respective compliance item.

The Ministry will allocate the 2021 Basic Public Interest Direct Payments to local governments on the 5th, and each local government will sequentially pay farmers after verifying their accounts. Especially this year, since local governments have closely cooperated to prepare administrative procedures such as securing local funds in advance, the actual payment timing to farmers is expected to be earlier than last year.

Park Sujin, Director of Food Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "We hope that the early payment of the Public Interest Direct Payments will help farmers who steadfastly protect the agricultural field during difficult times and contribute to enhancing the public functions of agriculture and rural areas."

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