Last Month, 70.3 Billion KRW National Funding Provided for Agricultural Sector Affected by Heavy Snow... Support Also Includes Agricultural Policy Fund 'Repayment Deferral and Interest Reduction'

Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Reviews and Approves Heavy Snow Damage Recovery Plan

The government has decided to provide 70.3 billion KRW in national funds to support the agricultural sector affected by the heavy snowfall that occurred last month. In addition to disaster relief funds, affected farms will also receive support for deferral of repayment and interest reduction on agricultural policy funds.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that following the final review and approval of the heavy snowfall damage recovery plan by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters from November 26 to 28 on the 20th, disaster relief funds and financial support will be provided to ensure prompt recovery in the agricultural sector.

According to the Ministry, the heavy snowfall in November caused damage in the agricultural sector including 1,130 hectares of ginseng facilities, 773 hectares of greenhouses, 482 hectares of fruit tree facilities, 129 hectares of livestock barns, 476 hectares of crops, and 1,022,000 livestock.

The region most affected by the snowfall is Gyeonggi-do. Damage occurred to 651 hectares of greenhouses, 727 hectares of ginseng facilities, 374 hectares of fruit tree facilities, 386 hectares of crops, 116 hectares of livestock facilities, and 1,008,000 livestock. Next, in Chungcheongbuk-do, damage was reported to 147 hectares of ginseng facilities, 56 hectares of greenhouses, 14 hectares of fruit tree facilities, 45 hectares of crops, 8 hectares of livestock facilities, and 14,000 livestock.

The total recovery cost approved on this day is 148.4 billion KRW, of which 115.7 billion KRW is for private facility restoration and 32.7 billion KRW for public facilities. Among the private facility restoration costs, 103.5 billion KRW is allocated for agricultural sector damage recovery, with 70.3 billion KRW supported by national funds.

Additionally, the Ministry plans to support affected farms not only with disaster relief funds but also by deferring repayment and reducing interest on agricultural policy funds amounting to 246.9 billion KRW for 3,794 farms. Furthermore, 65.6 billion KRW will be provided as loans to 2,488 farms that applied for disaster management operating funds (with an interest rate of 1.8%).

Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "We plan to prioritize the advance payment of national funds from the disaster relief funds to ensure the swift recovery of farms affected by the heavy snowfall." She added, "We will do our utmost to cooperate actively with related ministries and local governments so that the damage recovery can be completed as soon as possible."