‘Advance Payment, Post Settlement’ Method for Rapid Recovery of Affected Farms
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam announced on the 27th that it will advance the payment of the ‘Agricultural Disaster Cold Damage Recovery Support Disaster Relief Fund’ from the county budget to farmers who suffered cold damage to crops in April.
The county conducted a detailed investigation and input and confirmed the data in the NDMS (Disaster Management Work Portal) system from May 18 to June 10, then promptly submitted the results to Gyeongnam Province and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and completed its own recovery plan.
Farmers experienced damage to apple flower buds in the early growth stage and fruit drop damage due to insufficient pollination caused by the cold in April. According to the detailed investigation results, 1,450 damage reports were filed, with the damage amount totaling 2.8 billion KRW.
The county urgently allocated disaster relief funds from its contingency budget before the national subsidy was granted and decided to promptly pay 2.66 billion KRW in pesticide costs to the affected farmers within July.
However, the ‘Agricultural Disaster Relief Fund’ may be excluded from payment if the affected household’s labor or business income exceeds a certain amount and agriculture is not the main livelihood (accounting for 50% or more of the household’s total income).
Gu In-mo, the mayor of Geochang-gun, said, "Following last year, fruit farmers struggling with cold damage this year will have to wait a considerable time until the national subsidy is granted, so we will focus administrative efforts on support through a ‘prepayment, post-settlement’ method for rapid damage recovery.”
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