<기사>Vice Minister of Agriculture and Food Exchanges Opinions on Dairy System Improvement with Successors and Young Farmers in Dairy Industry

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Kim Injoong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, held a dialogue session on the 8th with successor farmers, young farmers, and regarding the reform of the dairy system.

Amid the contraction of the domestic dairy industry, the government has been promoting the reform of the dairy system since last year to create a sustainable dairy industry. However, the discussions on the system reform promoted by the government have not progressed due to opposition from producer organizations. This event was organized to share opinions with the younger generation who will lead the future of the dairy industry and to correct misunderstandings in this situation.

Korea's raw milk production decreased from 2.34 million tons in 2001 to 2.03 million tons last year, and the self-sufficiency rate fell from 77.3% to 45.7%. During this period, raw milk imports surged from 650,000 tons to 2.51 million tons.

Vice Minister Kim encouraged young farmers preparing for the future despite the difficult conditions in the dairy industry and emphasized that the government must promptly complete the ongoing system reform for the development of the dairy industry.

To this end, he announced plans to create various discussion forums, including holding the Dairy Promotion Board meetings, and to continue consultations with producer organizations on system reform. He also urged successor farmers and young farmers to actively provide their opinions on the system reform.

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