Receive the Basic Public Interest Direct Payment! ... Gyeongnam Province Distributes 219.8 Billion KRW to 140,000 Farms

Gyeongnam Provincial Government. / Photo by Se-ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do will start paying the Basic Public Interest Direct Payment to farmers in the province from the 23rd.

Now in its third year of implementation, the Public Interest Direct Payment system is designed to enhance the public functions of agriculture and rural areas and stabilize farmers' incomes by providing direct payments to farmers who meet certain qualifications and comply with required conditions.

This year, Gyeongsangnam-do plans to pay a total of 219.8 billion KRW to 144,000 verified farming households covering 94,000 hectares.

Of this, 81.8 billion KRW will be allocated as Small-scale Farmer Direct Payments to 67,000 households cultivating less than 0.5 hectares, and 138 billion KRW as Area-based Direct Payments to 77,000 farmers cultivating 0.5 hectares or more.

The province will utilize an integrated verification system that links various administrative information such as resident data and land information with the Public Interest Direct Payment application data to verify in real-time whether farmland, farmers, and small-scale farmers meet the eligibility criteria.

Established last year, this system will guide applicants not to apply for ineligible farmland from the application and reception stages, thereby preventing the possibility of fraudulent claims in advance.

Even after application and reception, the system selects targets for inspection by linking data such as agricultural material purchase history and residence information, focusing on verifying actual cultivation status.

Applicants will be inspected for compliance with conditions such as maintaining the shape and function of farmland. If violations are found, such as improper maintenance or failure to comply with safe pesticide use standards, direct payments will be reduced by 10% per violation.

The province will allocate the Public Interest Direct Payment funds to city and county offices, which will then verify farmers' accounts at the town, township, and neighborhood levels before sequentially paying the farmers.

A provincial official stated, “Since we have closely cooperated so that city and county offices can prepare administrative procedures such as budget allocation in advance, the actual payment to farmers is expected to be earlier than last year.”

On October 18, the “Act on the Operation of Direct Payment System for the Promotion of Agricultural and Rural Public Functions” was amended and promulgated, and it is expected that next year an additional 16,000 hectares of farmland and 68,800 farmers will be newly included as direct payment recipients.

The amendment removed the farmland requirement that only farmland with at least one direct payment received between 2017 and 2019 was eligible for the Basic Public Interest Direct Payment.

Cho Hyunhong, Director of Agricultural Policy Division, said, “As the number of direct payment recipients expands next year, we will thoroughly establish and implement operational plans such as strengthening education and publicity for farmers and measures to prevent fraudulent claims to ensure the Basic Public Interest Direct Payment project proceeds smoothly.”

He added, “We hope this will help farmers who steadfastly protect the agricultural field during difficult times for direct payments and contribute to increasing the public function effects of agriculture and rural areas.”

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