Hamyang-gun Extends Application Period for Strategic Crop Direct Payment Program

Support Benefits for Cultivating Designated Crops such as Barley and Beans in Rice Fields

Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, is extending the application period for the Strategic Crop Direct Payment Program, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs this year to ensure appropriate rice production, until April 20. Applications for the support program for cultivating other crops in rice paddies are open until June 23.

The Strategic Crop Direct Payment Program is a project fully funded by the national government. It is designed to expand and reorganize the existing direct payments for rice paddies by reducing the cultivation area of rice for table consumption according to demand while increasing the production of import-dependent crops. When other crops such as soybeans or forage crops are grown as a single crop or double-cropped in paddies previously used for rice cultivation, payments of 500,000 to 2,500,000 KRW per hectare are provided.

Gyeongnam Hamyang County Office.

In particular, for single cropping of summer forage crops, 4,300,000 KRW per hectare will be paid, and for double cropping of winter (wheat) and summer forage crops or winter and summer forage crops, 4,800,000 KRW per hectare will be provided.

The support program for cultivating other crops in rice paddies is a project continuously implemented from 2022 to this year. The eligible farmland includes all plots that were part of the program in 2022 and new farmlands participating in the program in 2023 by cultivating other crops or leaving the land fallow among the rice cultivation lands of 2022.

The payment rates for the support program for cultivating other crops in rice paddies are 1,000,000 KRW per hectare for general crops and 4,300,000 KRW per hectare for summer forage crops. The application period is until June 23.

An official from the county stated, “Our county’s rice cultivation reduction target for this year is 184 hectares (74 hectares for the Strategic Crop Direct Payment Program and 110 hectares for cultivating other crops in rice paddies). This year, along with the Strategic Crop Direct Payment Program, the program for cultivating other crops in rice paddies will also be implemented simultaneously. If appropriate rice production is achieved, it will contribute to receiving a proper purchase price through production adjustment. We urge rice farmers to actively participate.”