"Youth Are the Future of Rural Areas" This Year's Budget for Farmland Acquisition Support Increased by 45%

The government will strengthen support for youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 16th that the budget for youth farmland support has been expanded by 45% compared to the previous year.

The ministry has established the "1st Basic Plan for Successors and Youth Farmers Development (2023-2027)" to comprehensively support young people (under 40) interested in agriculture to start their own businesses.

Earlier, Minister Song Mi-ryeong of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs emphasized in her inauguration speech on the 2nd, "To attract the younger generation who will lead future agriculture and rural areas, we will drastically improve the industry's structure so that the agri-food industry can generate high income and provide good jobs."

This year, support for farmland and funds, which are the areas where young people most demand expanded assistance during the farming startup process, will be further increased. First, a total of 1.2413 trillion KRW will be invested, expanding the customized farmland support budget prioritized for youth by 45% compared to 2023 to ensure no difficulties in securing essential farmland for farming startups. The plan is to increase the supply to enable leasing and sales of farmland desired by young farmers.

Financial loan support necessary for farmland purchase and facility installation will also be actively promoted. Since last October, the ministry has increased the preferential guarantee loan limit for young farmers from 300 million KRW to 500 million KRW, and this will be supported starting this year.

Additionally, the number of selected recipients for the farming settlement support project, which provides settlement subsidies to young farmers in the early stages of entrepreneurship, will be expanded to 5,000, 1,000 more than last year's 4,000. Eight new rental housing complexes (Youth Rural Bo-gumjari) for young farmers will be established this year, increasing the total to 17 complexes.

Song Nam-geun, Director of Agricultural Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "The government is actively expanding support necessary for young people's farming startups, including farmland, funds, and income," adding, "To achieve the goal of nurturing 30,000 young farmers, we will continue to strengthen farming support measures."

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