Namwon-si, 'Farmer Salary System' Applications Open Until the 21st of Next Month

[Namwon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jeong Young-kwon] Namwon City, Jeonbuk Province, has decided to change the payment schedule for the 2022 Agricultural Workers' Salary System support project and is accepting applications at local agricultural cooperatives until the 21st of next month.

According to the city on the 18th, the Agricultural Workers' Salary System is a project that aims to promote planned management of farmers' livelihoods by providing 70% of the expected income from rice to be shipped through the agricultural cooperative's own purchase in monthly installments during the busy farming season, thereby stabilizing the income distribution of rice farming households.

If rice farming households sign a self-purchase shipping contract with the local agricultural cooperative and apply for the salary system by the 21st of next month, the mountainous areas (Unbong Agricultural Cooperative, Jirisan Agricultural Cooperative) will change the payment schedule to pay from March to September, and the plains areas (Namwon Agricultural Cooperative, Chunhyanggol Agricultural Cooperative) will pay from April to October for seven months. According to the contracted amount, the contracted cooperative will provide advance payments ranging from 310,000 KRW (50 bags/40kg) to 2,728,000 KRW (440 bags/40kg) per month.

The city compensates the interest on operating funds, so participating farmers receive 70% of the expected shipment amount in advance without any cost burden, and after the harvest is completed and the price of 2022 rice is determined, the remaining amount will be calculated and settled.

Since the income of rice farming households is concentrated in the autumn harvest season, this project aims to alleviate the economic burden of rice farming households who need year-round expenses such as farming funds, children's school fees, and household living expenses, and to enable planned agricultural management. Last year, 702 households participated, and interest subsidies of about 163 million KRW and 8,433 tons were paid.

This year, about 180 million KRW and approximately 9,200 tons are planned to be operated, and the Agricultural Workers' Salary System is expected to receive high responses from farmers.

A city official said, "We plan to continue promoting the Agricultural Workers' Salary System project, which can help rice farming households achieve stable agricultural management, through town, township, and neighborhood offices as well as local agricultural cooperatives to encourage many households to participate."

Namwon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jeong Young-kwon wjddudrnjs@asiae.co.kr