Government-Backed “Agricultural Internship” to be Introduced Next Year

Starting next year, an agricultural internship for the unemployed will be introduced, and an agricultural business start-up training program will be established for undergraduates.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) announced yesterday that it had set support plans for agricultural management start-ups to counter potential farmer shortage and to foster young farmers against the backdrop of aging rural areas.

The agricultural internship program is designed to provide the unemployed aged between 18 and 30 with agricultural management experience at full-time farming households, agricultural venture start-ups, and farmers’ association for business activities. The government will pay internees 50 percent of their wages or 500,000 won, whichever amount is smaller.

Internees who are certified to complete the program in more than one year will be eligible for long-term low interest loans to fund their own agricultural businesses.

The agricultural management start-up training program is a two-year program that provides undergraduates who apply for it with practical training at designated organizations during vacations.

The MAF said that it will select 100 people for each program and will begin pilot projects next year, and that it finished negotiating budgets with the Ministry of Planning and Budget.

On top of that, the MAF decided to provide job training on each agricultural product to the public from 2006, modeling after the Ministry of Labor’s similar job training program.

It is also planning to implement a sponsorship system for agricultural start-ups, under which the pool of agricultural experts including professors of agricultural studies will support farmers.

Ji-Wan Cha cha@donga.com