60s Farmer Abandons Cabbage Harvest
"Distribution Structure Must Be Improved"
Recently, as the retail price of one head of cabbage approaches 6,000 won, a phenomenon known as 'golden cabbage' continues, and a story has emerged about a farmer in his 60s from Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk, who discarded an entire harvest of first-grade quality cabbages worth about 100 million won just ten days before harvest, without using any pesticides.
According to Yonhap News on the 12th, farmer A from Juwangsan-myeon, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk, started uprooting and discarding the cabbages ready for harvest from his 29,000㎡ (about 9,000 pyeong) cabbage field from 7 a.m. that day.
On the morning of the 11th, farmers are pulling out cabbages they have given up harvesting in a cabbage field in Juwangsan-myeon, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk Province. [Photo by Yonhap News (provided by farmers)]
A, who has a level 4 physical disability, had been farming cabbages alone since mid-March when he sowed the seeds. Despite not using any pesticides and growing first-grade quality cabbages, he gave up on the harvest.
This was because he was devastated by the government's decision to expand the release of government stockpiles of cabbage to stabilize prices and to apply tariff quotas on cabbage imports.
He was also angry that while support is provided for other agricultural products to stabilize prices, cabbage farmers receive no such support. He appealed, “How angry must I be to give up on farming with my physical difficulties?”
A stated, “No matter how much cabbage prices rise, if the distribution structure is not improved, the situation for farmers does not get better at all,” and added, “I gave up on the harvest out of anger because the government does not consider the position of farmers who cannot make money despite working hard.” He continued, “Currently, cabbage prices may be expensive for consumers, but prices are not properly formed in wholesale markets, so the prices farmers receive are terrible. Even if it is just me, I hope that by giving up the harvest, I can help farmers receive proper prices.”
According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the price of one head of cabbage was 3,808 won as of the 10th of this month. Last October, it exceeded 7,000 won. With the government pursuing price stabilization policies, there is a significant possibility of further price declines.
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