Government Will Inject 119 Trillion Won Into Agricultural Sector Starting Next Year

Starting from next year, the government will allot 119 trillion won for 10 years into the agricultural sector, which is facing growing pressure of opening its market.

In a report to President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Huh Sang-man presented the 10-year roadmap, a package of comprehensive measures to strengthen the agricultural industry.

According to the roadmap, in an effort to promote establishment of large-sized rice farms, the government will make, by 2010, 70,000 farming households engaged in rice cultivation on more than six hectares of fields and produce over half of the total rice production.

In addition, the ministry plans to increase production of environment-friendly agricultural products by 10 percent from the current amount of three percent by strengthening eco-and environment-friendly practices and various quality licensing systems. In this regard, the ministry will guide farmers to cut down on usage of chemicals and fertilizers by 40 percent from the current amount by 2013.

In an effort to balance development between urban areas and rural areas, the ministry will increase its pension payment subsidy for farmers and fishermen from the current 86,000 won to 257,000 won per person. And in an effort to strengthen welfare of rural areas, the insurance premium subsidy for farmers and fishermen will increase from the current 22 percent to 50 percent by year 2006.

In addition, the government, which has been supporting educational expenses only for households whose farmlands are smaller than a hectare, will start to provide educational expenses for all the high school students of farming households from next year.

The ministry said that the average income of farming households is expected to rise to 105 percent of the average income of urban households in 2013 from 90 percent of urban households’ average income in 2002.

The ministry expects that farming households’ off-farming income will rise to 40 percent of their total income by 2003 from 30 percent in 2002. In the meantime, the ministry forecasted that the population of rural areas will drop to 17 percent of the nation’s population from the current 20 percent.

Jin-Hup Song jinhup@donga.com