'Agricultural Direct Payments' Increased to 5 Trillion Won... Enhancing Income Compensation Effects and Expanding the Selective Direct Payment System

Discussion at Min-Dang-Jeong Meeting on the 6th
Preparation of Plans to Expand and Reform Agricultural Direct Payment System
Incorporation of '2025~2029 Public Interest Direct Payment Basic Plan'

The government has decided to double the agricultural direct payment budget by 2027 to 5 trillion won. The basic direct payment system will be restructured to enhance income compensation effects mainly for small and medium-sized farms, and the selective direct payment programs such as the management transfer direct payment and strategic crop direct payment will be expanded to further improve income compensation effects.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the 'Plan to Expand and Reform the Agricultural Direct Payment System' based on these points. The agricultural direct payment system refers to a system that provides subsidies to farmers. This is a follow-up measure after President Yoon Seok-yeol exercised his veto power on the amendment to the Grain Management Act on the 4th.

Increased Income Compensation Effect through Basic Direct Payment Reform

First, the basic direct payment system will be restructured to enhance income compensation effects mainly for small and medium-sized farms. Through research projects, a reform plan will be prepared by next year and reflected in the '2025-2029 Basic Plan for the Public Interest Direct Payment System.' The compliance requirements that farmers must fulfill to receive direct payments will be adjusted to suit actual agricultural conditions and contribute to enhancing public interest functions.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, "Due to recent increases in raw material prices and supply-demand instability, farm management risks are rising, highlighting the need to reform the system to mitigate these risks and strengthen income stability for small and medium-sized farms." He also added, "We plan to introduce a supplementary program to prepare for fluctuations in farm income and sales."

The supplementary program aims to alleviate cases where actual income and sales by farm and product category fluctuate beyond a certain level. A detailed introduction plan will be prepared within this year, and pilot projects will be implemented step-by-step. Additionally, a system to identify and verify income and sales by farm will be established, and in the long term, after gathering opinions from the agricultural sector, plans to expand the scope of farmers who register their business and report income will also be considered.

Expansion of Selective Direct Payment within the Public Interest Direct Payment System... Eco-friendly and Strategic Crops

Various selective direct payment programs will be expanded. First, a carbon neutrality support program will be introduced to enable agriculture to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Focusing on the crop and livestock sectors, which account for most greenhouse gas emissions, the program will support farmers by compensating costs incurred when they undertake activities to reduce carbon emissions. The program introduction plan will be prepared this year, and after pilot projects focusing on activities with verified carbon reduction effects, it will be gradually implemented.

The direct payment system will also be expanded to cultivate future agricultural manpower and resolve imbalances in the agricultural labor structure. To this end, management transfer direct payments will be provided to elderly farmers retiring from farming by selling farmland. However, unlike the previous method that supported direct payments both when farmland was sold or leased, payments will be made only when farmland is sold to a farmland bank and the farmer retires from farming activities. The farmland purchased by the farmland bank from elderly farmers will be offered first to young farmers. Along with this, the settlement support payment for young farmers will be expanded to alleviate income instability in the early stages of farming, supporting the plan to nurture 30,000 young farmers.

In addition, the strategic crop direct payment system introduced this year will be continuously expanded focusing on specialized production complexes for wheat, soybeans, and rice flour to resolve rice oversupply and increase self-sufficiency rates for wheat and soybeans. The eco-friendly direct payment will scale up certified farms and encourage neighboring farms to transition to eco-friendly agriculture. Furthermore, the landscape conservation direct payment will expand the cultivation of landscape crops, and support for the preservation and management of nationally important agricultural heritage will be strengthened.

Prevention of Fraudulent Payments through Management System Establishment

The implementation system of the direct payment system will also be gradually improved for efficient management. By 2025, a data-based integrated management system for the public interest direct payment will be established to preemptively block fraudulent payments and enhance the efficiency of operation and management. Additionally, education, consulting, and research and development will be strengthened to help farmers smoothly carry out carbon emission reduction activities and others.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "The direction of expanding and reforming the agricultural direct payment system focuses on stabilizing farm management, enhancing agricultural sustainability, and supporting the leap to future industries." He added, "We will concretize detailed implementation plans through pilot projects for each direct payment system and, after consultations with financial authorities, expand the agricultural direct payment budget to over 3 trillion won next year and to around 5 trillion won by 2027."

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