Song Miryeong "Support for Delivery Unit Price, 10% Additional Reduction in Apple Prices... Will Increase Production Volume in the Long Term"

'Emergency Meeting on Fruit Supply Trends and Countermeasures'

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated on the 7th, "Through support for delivery price reductions for apples, citrus, and green onions, we expect the price of apples to decrease by an additional 10% beyond the discount support."

Minister Song held an emergency press briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the same day and said, "The government will mobilize all available means to alleviate the price burden of agricultural and livestock products."

According to the 'February Consumer Price Index' announced by Statistics Korea on the 6th, consumer prices for agricultural and livestock products surged 12.8% year-on-year, accelerating from January's 8.7%. In particular, apples and pears, whose production decreased last year, soared by 71.0% and 61.1%, respectively. Additionally, prices of vegetables such as napa cabbage, green onions, and tomatoes, whose shipments have decreased due to frequent recent rainfall and lack of sunlight, continue to rise.

Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, is holding an emergency press briefing on the 7th at the Government Sejong Complex to explain measures for price stabilization.

Minister Song emphasized, "The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recognizes the recent price situation seriously and will focus all efforts on stabilizing prices. First, until the full shipment of substitute fruits like chamoe before April, we will promote delivery price reductions and discount support centered on fruits and vegetables to lower the perceived inflation."

The government is expanding the budget for discount support projects in March and April to 23 billion KRW, providing up to 40% discounts. In addition, 20.4 billion KRW will be invested to support delivery price reductions for 13 items including apples and green onions. The Ministry expects that the consumer price of apples will decrease by an additional 10% beyond the discount support due to the delivery price reduction support.

Along with this, the government plans to promote direct import by aT of oranges and bananas to supply the market at lower prices. The list of items subject to tariff quotas will also be expanded to include mandarins (tariff rate reduced from 50% to 10%, 500 tons), durians (tariff rate reduced from 45% to 5%, 1,300 tons), and pineapple juice (tariff rate reduced from 50% to 10%, entire import volume). Minister Song explained, "This is intended to diversify the items consumers can choose from besides apples and pears," adding, "The total volume is about 90,000 tons, which is similar to the scale of the decrease in apple production."

On the same day, Minister Song also announced plans to strengthen long-term growth management. Due to unprecedented cold damage and anthracnose last spring, fruit production decreased significantly last year. To proactively manage tree conditions this year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs established and has been operating since January a 'Fruit Growth Management Council' involving the Rural Development Administration, local governments in major production areas, the Nonghyup, and product self-governing organizations. Through this council, plans for supplying cold damage prevention agents, surveys on demand and selection of recipients for disaster prevention facilities such as cold damage prevention, removal of fire blight ulcers in fruit trees have been completed, and weekly monitoring of weather conditions and bud break and flowering times by item is ongoing.

Minister Song said, "From March, with improving weather conditions such as rising temperatures and increased sunlight, and the gradual expansion of shipment areas, the supply and demand situation for agricultural products, especially facility-grown vegetables, is expected to improve compared to February. However, strong prices for apples and pears are inevitable until the new fruit shipments begin." She added, "Although the volume is small, early-ripening apples will be shipped around the end of July, but even before then, we will mobilize various resources to minimize inconvenience to the public and make every effort."

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