Nonggwanwon Suncheon·Gwangyang Office Conducts Compliance Inspections for Public Payment Application Farms

Inspection of Compliance with Farm Requirements such as Maintaining Land Shape and Function, and Safe Use of Pesticides

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] The Jeonnam Branch of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, Suncheon·Gwangyang Office (Director Kim Bo-bin, hereinafter ‘NAQMS’) announced on the 12th that it will conduct a compliance inspection for three months until September 30 to verify whether the compliance requirements such as farmland shape and function maintenance are being met for the basic-type public interest direct payment application plots.

The public interest direct payment system was first implemented last year to promote the public functions of agriculture and rural areas and to stabilize farmers' income, and this year marks its second year of implementation.

NAQMS inspects whether the applicants for direct payments properly fulfill obligations such as maintaining the shape and function of farmland and the safe use of pesticides, and notifies the local governments of the results.

The compliance inspection targets about 5,000 plots in the Suncheon·Gwangyang area, including plots found non-compliant last year, plots of new applicants for public interest direct payments, and suspected abandoned farmland identified using aerial images. For accurate and efficient inspection, the inspection is conducted through both on-site surveys by investigators and the use of aerial images and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

If non-compliant application details such as abandoned farmland area are confirmed through the compliance inspection, NAQMS notifies the relevant local governments, which then exclude the non-compliant application area from the payment target and reduce part of the total direct payment amount received by the farmer based on the inspection results notified by NAQMS.

However, for the newly introduced compliance obligations last year, such as proper disposal of agricultural waste, community joint activities, and the preparation and storage of farming records, ‘warning’ measures will be applied until this year, and reductions will be gradually applied from next year.

An NAQMS official stated, “We plan to thoroughly promote compliance inspections so that public interest direct payments can be supported to farmers who comply with requirements such as farmland shape and function maintenance and safe pesticide use,” and requested, “Applicants for public interest direct payments should faithfully fulfill the compliance requirements and actively cooperate to ensure smooth progress of the compliance inspections.”