[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do (Acting Governor Na Yunsu) has begun full-scale preparations for the project in anticipation of the ‘Public Interest Direct Payment System,’ which will be implemented for the first time this year.
On the 13th, Hampyeong-gun held a work-sharing meeting with agricultural policy-related organizations and announced on the 15th that they discussed the revised project implementation procedures and contents of the ‘Public Interest Promotion Direct Payment Act,’ which was amended at the end of last year.
Each organization agreed on efficient work-sharing through the establishment of a collaborative system and plans to actively engage in promotional activities for the Public Interest Direct Payment System, including sharing the project implementation schedule with local farms.
Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the legislative notice for the enforcement decree and enforcement rules of the ‘Agricultural Income Preservation Act Amendment Bill,’ related to agricultural subsidies, the biggest issue in agricultural policy, until the 1st of next month.
The reorganized Public Interest Direct Payment System mainly integrates six existing direct payment systems, including rice and field crop direct payments, into the ‘Basic Public Interest Direct Payment’ and the ‘Selective Public Interest Direct Payment.’
The Basic Public Interest Direct Payment consists of the ‘Small-scale Farmer Direct Payment,’ which is paid regardless of area to small-scale farms meeting certain requirements (such as farming period, rural residence period, and non-farming income), and the regressive ‘Area Direct Payment,’ which pays a lower unit price as the area increases.
The Area Direct Payment will be paid at the same unit price regardless of rice or field crops and is scheduled to be finalized next month.
The Selective Direct Payment consists of the current eco-friendly farming direct payment and landscape conservation direct payment and can be received concurrently with the basic direct payment as before.
Regarding the application procedure, unlike the existing agricultural direct payment system where changes to agricultural management information and direct payment applications were submitted simultaneously, from this year, applicants must first change their agricultural management information and then apply for the Public Interest Direct Payment, undergoing two application procedures.
Other detailed reform matters are expected to be specified around April to May through expert opinion gathering, and the county plans to sequentially implement the reception of management information change applications starting on the 17th of next month, distribution of direct payment application forms (end of April), and reception of direct payment applications (end of May).
The actual direct payment is expected to be made around the end of the year after compliance inspections.
A county official said, “Since the Public Interest Direct Payment System is being implemented for the first time this year, a lot of confusion and frequent complaints from local farmers are expected. Going forward, the county will cooperate with related local organizations to actively promote relevant laws and regulations to ensure that local farms do not suffer disadvantages due to lack of understanding of the system.”
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