Sacheon-si, Public Direct Payment Application and Reception ... 1.2 Million KRW per Farm

Area Direct Payment: Application of Inverse Unit Price by Area Segment

Sacheon City in Gyeongnam Province has been officially accepting applications for the 2023 Basic Public Interest Direct Payment since March.

The Basic Public Interest Direct Payment is a program aimed at stabilizing farmers' income and enhancing the public functions of agriculture and rural areas. It provides direct payments to farmers who meet certain qualifications specified in the Agricultural and Rural Public Interest Direct Payment Act.

The Basic Public Interest Direct Payment is divided into two types: Small-scale Farmer Direct Payment and Area-based Direct Payment. The Small-scale Farmer Direct Payment provides 1.2 million KRW per household, while the Area-based Direct Payment is calculated using a regressive unit price based on area segments.

Eligible farmers and agricultural corporations must visit the administrative welfare center in their farmland’s town or township by April 28 to submit the application form and required documents. However, new applicants and those cultivating farmland located more than 50 km from their registered address must additionally submit a cultivation confirmation signed by at least three people, including the village head and two or more local farmers.

Notably, this year, farmland that was not previously eligible for public interest direct payments but had no record of receiving previous direct payments at least once between 2017 and 2019 can now apply.

Accordingly, farmers owning farmland that was excluded from the payment target until last year can now apply for direct payments, which is expected to expand the payment recipients compared to last year.

If an applicant applies for farmland they do not cultivate themselves, they will be considered fraudulent recipients. This will result in the full recovery of all direct payments received up to the previous year and the imposition of a penalty surcharge up to five times the amount of the direct payments received. Additionally, they will be restricted from applying for direct payments for up to eight years.

A city official stated, “With the expansion of farmland eligible for public interest direct payments starting this year, the benefits for farmers are expected to increase significantly. We urge farmers applying for the public interest direct payments to apply for the farmland they actually cultivate within the application period.”

Sacheon City plans to strengthen eligibility verification and block fraudulent claims through special inspections to confirm actual cultivation, in response to the expanded farmland eligible for public interest direct payments.