Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Supports Labor During Peak Farming Season

3300 People Deployed Together with Nong-eochon Gongsa and Others

Photo by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to deploy an additional 3,300 people to rural areas ahead of the busy farming season by mobilizing related organizations. This move strengthens manpower support alongside dispatching urban residents to rural areas, encouraging the influx of foreign workers into farming communities, and early activation of volunteer services.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that 17 organizations, including the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, are participating in spring farming season labor assistance. By next month, about 1,100 employees from the ministry headquarters and five affiliated agencies will be involved. Additionally, around 2,200 executives and employees from 12 public institutions, including the Korea Rural Community Corporation, will be deployed by next month. They will support farming tasks such as garlic and onion harvesting, fruit thinning, seedling transplantation, collection of discarded farming materials, and weed removal.

A ministry official stated, "Last May, we deployed about 250 employees from the headquarters and affiliated and subordinate agencies in three rounds to assist with open-field vegetable harvesting and fruit thinning tasks," adding, "This year, we will also work while strictly adhering to quarantine guidelines." The official continued, "We requested labor assistance from related organizations such as the Ministry of National Defense on the 6th," and added, "We hope that voluntary rural labor assistance movements will be activated in the private sector as well."