Jeongeup City in Jeonbuk announced on the 2nd that it will extend the 50% discount on agricultural machinery rental fees until December to support farmers facing difficulties due to livestock diseases, weather disasters, and rising labor costs.
Jeongeup City will extend the 50% discount on agricultural machinery rental fees until December to support farmers facing difficulties. [Photo by Jeongeup City]
This discount benefit is available to any local farmer wishing to rent agricultural machinery, allowing them to use all types (94 types, 1,593 units) held at regional rental centers at a 50% reduced rental fee.
The city had temporarily implemented a 50% discount on agricultural machinery rental fees from April 2020 until the end of last year to alleviate rural labor shortages and reduce management costs amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
During this period, 49,964 farms rented 59,725 units of agricultural machinery. The scale of the rental fee discount amounted to 650 million KRW, which was confirmed to have greatly helped ease labor shortages and reduce economic burdens for farms through shared use of agricultural machinery.
This year, the city judged that it is important to relieve the management burden on farms caused by labor shortages and rising farm management costs, and decided to extend the agricultural machinery rental fee discount for one more year.
An official from the Agricultural Technology Center said, “We hope that the extension of the 50% reduction in agricultural machinery rental fees will provide some support to farms going through difficult times,” and added, “We plan to continue preparing various support measures to minimize damage to farms.”
Jeongeup = Kim Jaegil, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr
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