[2024 Budget] 3 Trillion Won Allocated for Agricultural Disaster Response and Recovery... Increasing Water Basins to Prevent Floods

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs 2024 Budget Proposal 18.333 Trillion KRW, 5.6% Increase from This Year
Agricultural Direct Payment System 2.84 Trillion → 3.1042 Trillion KRW, Small Farmer Direct Payment Raised by 100,000 KRW
2.3158 Trillion KRW Allocated for Rice Supply Stabilization Including Expansion of Strategic Crop Cultivation

The government has decided to significantly increase the budget for agricultural disaster response and recovery next year. The budget for expanding farmland drainage facilities and dredging reservoirs to increase water storage capacity will be expanded, and for the first time, funds will be allocated to improve the performance of aging drainage stations over 30 years old. Additionally, with a 100,000 KRW increase in the small-scale direct payment, the total agricultural direct payment budget will exceed 3.1 trillion KRW next year.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the 2024 budget plan was set at 18.333 trillion KRW, a 5.6% increase compared to 2023.

Kang Hyuk-seok, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Next year's budget for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is twice the national fiscal growth rate of 2.8%. The budget plan focuses on systematically and comprehensively responding to current threats such as uncertainties in the international food market, supply chain instability including raw materials, and climate change by strengthening food security, stabilizing farm income and management, and preventing disasters. It also emphasizes promoting digital transformation and fostering new industries including food tech and green bio to enhance synergy with agriculture."

Strengthening Agricultural Disaster Response Capabilities Against Abnormal Weather

In response to frequent natural disasters such as heavy rains from June to August and typhoons in August this year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs decided to increase the budget for reducing agricultural disasters and rapid damage recovery from 2.6858 trillion KRW this year to 2.923 trillion KRW next year, an 8.8% (237.2 billion KRW) increase.

First, the budget for enhancing disaster response capabilities of agricultural production infrastructure will increase from 1.6849 trillion KRW to 1.8159 trillion KRW. To improve and expand drainage facilities to prevent crop flooding damage, 19 aging drainage stations over 30 years old will receive 19.8 billion KRW in new funding for performance improvement, and early completion of key facilities such as drainage channels and sluice gates to prevent flooding damage will be promoted.

Additionally, to enhance flood response capabilities of agricultural production infrastructure such as reservoirs, investment in the repair and maintenance of aging hydraulic facilities will expand from 554.8 billion KRW to 613.2 billion KRW, and the dredging budget for sediment removal to increase reservoir water storage capacity will be significantly increased from 3 billion KRW to 43 billion KRW. A new budget of 1.1 billion KRW was also allocated to establish a flood forecasting and warning system to provide early warnings to nearby residents in case of reservoir overflow risk.

The budget for damage compensation and recovery support in case of disasters will also increase from 1.009 trillion KRW to 1.1071 trillion KRW. Specifically, crop disaster insurance will expand from 70 target items with 468.6 billion KRW to 73 items with 512.6 billion KRW. Considering the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, the disaster countermeasure fund will also increase from 200 billion KRW to 300 billion KRW.

Agricultural Direct Payment System: 2.84 Trillion KRW → 3.1042 Trillion KRW

First, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to increase the agricultural direct payment budget from 2.84 trillion KRW this year to 3.1042 trillion KRW next year. The small-scale direct payment for farms owning 0.5 hectares or less will be raised by 100,000 KRW from 1.2 million KRW to 1.3 million KRW, expanding the basic public interest direct payment budget from 2.5805 trillion KRW to 2.6335 trillion KRW. Additionally, the number of items covered by income guarantee insurance, which compensates for losses caused by natural disasters and price drops, will increase from 7 to 10.

A new carbon neutrality program will be introduced with a budget of 9 billion KRW to provide direct payments for farmers' carbon reduction activities such as paddy water management and low-methane feed supply, and the budget for the landscape conservation direct payment system will increase from 9.9 billion KRW to 16.8 billion KRW. A retirement direct payment system to promote generational change in agricultural labor will be introduced with a budget of 12.6 billion KRW.

The budget for expanding agricultural management safety nets and supporting vulnerable groups will also increase to 616.7 billion KRW. The number of 'public seasonal labor centers' to alleviate labor shortages in rural areas will expand from 19 to 70 centers. Furthermore, the budget for special health checkups for women farmers will increase from 2 billion KRW to 4.3 billion KRW, expanding the target from 9,000 to 30,000 people, more than tripling it. A new mobile medical service for rural residents (120,000 people, 3.2 billion KRW) will also be introduced.

Expanding Powdered Rice Cultivation Area and Stabilizing Rice Supply and Demand

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will also invest in expanding the production and consumption base of strategic crops such as wheat, soybeans, and powdered rice next year, as well as reducing the cultivation area of table rice and balancing rice supply and demand. The budget for fostering the strategic crop industry will increase to 225.1 billion KRW, focusing on intensively developing specialized production complexes for powdered rice cultivation and newly supporting milling and distribution costs (10,000 tons, 2 billion KRW) and raw material purchase loans (250 billion KRW scale, 100 million KRW interest subsidy) for powdered rice milling companies.

The budget for stabilizing rice supply and demand will expand from 1.8741 trillion KRW to 2.3158 trillion KRW. The government's grain purchase volume will increase from 400,000 tons this year to 450,000 tons next year, with the purchase price set at about 200,000 KRW per 80 kg. Additionally, support for strategic crop direct payments to reduce table rice production and expand strategic crop cultivation will be increased, and the payment rate for paddy soybeans and powdered rice will be raised from 1 million KRW per hectare to 2 million KRW per hectare.

Fostering Young Farmers to Promote 'K-Agriculture' Future Growth and Export Expansion

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will strengthen tailored support for young farmers in areas such as funding, housing, and farmland, while also building a foundation for fostering new industries such as smart agriculture, food tech, and green bio. To this end, the budget for supporting young farmers will increase from 908.6 billion KRW this year to 1.2405 trillion KRW. To strengthen initial settlement support for young farmers starting their businesses, the number of new beneficiaries for young farmer settlement support will increase from 4,000 people and 55.1 billion KRW to 5,000 people and 94.3 billion KRW, and long-term lease volumes will be significantly expanded to resolve issues related to young farmers' housing and farmland acquisition.

A budget of 252.9 billion KRW has been allocated to support the future growth industrialization of agriculture. As part of expanding smart agriculture, investments will increase to expand leased smart farm complexes, establish young entrepreneur-type smart agriculture complexes, and create an additional 20 billion KRW fund for smart agriculture specialized management entities.

Additionally, three food tech research support centers, advanced analysis systems for green bio materials, and a complex research cluster for pet-related industries will be newly established. Next year, costs for approval and licensing to export and commercialize green bio products will also be supported.

The government is promoting the expansion of agricultural and agricultural machinery exports with a goal of 23 billion USD in K-Food Plus exports by 2027. K-Food Plus refers to Korean agricultural food combined with related industries such as smart farms and agricultural machinery. Next year, 116.6 billion KRW will be invested to expand K-Food Plus exports, supporting export farmers, sales organizations, and logistics improvements, as well as export support for upstream and downstream industries such as smart farms and agricultural machinery.

The budget for official development assistance (ODA) in the agricultural sector will also increase from 112.5 billion KRW this year to 185.7 billion KRW next year. The government plans to expand rice food aid to developing countries and actively promote K-agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.

Director Kang said, "During the budget formulation process, to secure appropriate resources, we boldly restructured projects with poor execution and performance, as well as conventional and cash-type support projects, eliminating incremental and conventional budget formulation. We also improved budget efficiency through role-sharing with the private sector and local governments. We will thoroughly prepare for the National Assembly's budget review and execution to ensure that the 2024 budget resolves the concerns of farmers and agricultural and rural sites while contributing to national economic development as a future growth industry."

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