Improvement in Application Procedures by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Addition of Online Application Portal
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 1st that it has revised the guidelines for the implementation of direct payments for eco-friendly agriculture to expand participation and improve the convenience of farmers’ applications.
The eco-friendly direct payment system is a program that provides direct payments to farmers who have received eco-friendly certification and have faithfully implemented eco-friendly farming during the direct payment period, based on the certification stage and items. This year’s budget is 40.687 billion won, an increase from last year’s 31.913 billion won.
First, the payment record for the low-pesticide certification system (abolished in 2016) will be excluded from the calculation of the number of direct payment applications. Previously, it included three times for pesticide-free/low-pesticide and five times for organic (including three times for pesticide-free/low-pesticide), but now the payment frequency will be guaranteed as three times for pesticide-free and five times for organic (including pesticide-free).
Application requirements have also been relaxed. Previously, last year’s certification performance was necessary to apply for direct payments, but now farmers can receive direct payments with only the current year’s certification performance. In the case of newly certified farms, they only need to submit a valid certificate on the day of the business application to be eligible for direct payments.
Application procedures have also been improved. Previously, applications could only be made by visiting the town office of the farmland location, but with the establishment of an online application portal, non-face-to-face applications are now possible. The application period has been extended, with online applications accepted from March to April and in-person applications from May to June.
Lee Si-hye, Director of Agricultural Industry Innovation Policy at the Ministry, stated, “Eco-friendly agriculture is a key policy to respond to climate change and environmental pollution,” and added, “We will continue to expand the system improvements and support to enable eco-friendly farms to stably produce safe agricultural products.”