Hamyang-gun Launches Pilot Project to Reduce Fine Dust from Aging Agricultural Machinery

Support for Early Retirement of Diesel Tractors and Combines Produced Before 2013

Hamyang County Office building exterior

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, is accepting applications for the "Old Agricultural Machinery Fine Dust Reduction Support Project" until December to protect the health and lives of citizens from fine dust.

Applicants must be farmers or agricultural corporations registered as agricultural management entities, and the eligible agricultural machinery must be diesel tractors or combines produced before 2013 (by December 31, 2012) registered in the NongHyup "Tax-Free Fuel Management System."

The eligibility criteria require tractors and combines confirmed to be in normal operation at an "Agricultural Machinery Scrapping Facility," with the final ownership period fully meeting at least 6 months before the subsidy application date. Priority is given if the applicant's residence and cultivated land are the same; otherwise, support priority is determined considering the number of applicants and budget.

The early scrapping support project budget is 140 million KRW, applying support amounts by year and specification of tractors and combines, with support ranging from a minimum of 1 million KRW to a maximum of 22.49 million KRW.

Regarding subsidy payment restrictions, support is excluded if there is an outstanding loan repayment on the agricultural machinery, if the machinery is a selected product, an attached work machine, or confirmed to be illegally produced or distributed agricultural machinery. If owning two units, only one unit is supported.