Hwasun-gun Provides 'Rice Management Stabilization Fund' to Farmers

[Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyuk-jun] Jeonnam Hwasun-gun (Governor Gu Bok-gyu) announced on the 20th that it will provide an additional 500 million KRW for rice management stabilization measures to local farmers affected by the decline in rice prices and support 500 million KRW for losses incurred by the Nonghyup (National Agricultural Cooperative Federation).

This year, rice prices have fallen by 25% compared to the previous year due to a decrease in rice consumption caused by changes in eating habits and an oversupply resulting from a bumper harvest.

To address this, local Nonghyup purchased most of the rice inventory, but with the continuous decline in rice prices, Nonghyup’s losses have exceeded 1.5 billion KRW, making urgent countermeasures necessary.

Accordingly, the county decided to support Nonghyup with 500 million KRW, which corresponds to 33% of the losses, to prevent the losses from being passed on to farmers.

Along with supporting Nonghyup’s losses, an additional 500 million KRW will be provided as rice management stabilization funds to farmers to stabilize the rice production base and farm management.

The rice management stabilization fund is a subsidy given to farmers to alleviate the anxiety of rice growers caused by the full opening of the rice market and to maintain the production base of the rice industry. The county has been providing about 2 billion KRW annually (40% provincial funds, 60% county funds).

This year, due to soaring fertilizer and agricultural material costs, it was judged that the previously provided amount was insufficient to achieve the purpose of stabilizing farmers’ management, so an additional 500 million KRW will be supported.

In addition, the county provides more than 800 million KRW annually in subsidies to Nonghyup and farmers for rice packaging materials, rice delivery costs, and joint sorting fees to promote farm management stability.

Governor Gu Bok-gyu said, “Although it may appear that the support is given to Nonghyup on the surface, it was decided to minimize the damage to farmers in reality,” and added, “We will do our best to empathize with and resolve the difficulties faced by farmers.”

For more details, please contact the Agricultural Policy Division Distribution Team or the Eco-friendly Agriculture Team at the county office.

Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyuk-jun baekok@asiae.co.kr

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