New Year's Address
Committed to Stabilizing Food Livelihoods
Rice Industry to Promote 'Appropriate Production, High Quality, and Consumption Expansion'
Expanding Export Territories of Agri-food Industry Including K-Food and Smart Farms
Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated on the 1st, "Although the conditions surrounding us are more severe than ever, I will fulfill my duties with extraordinary determination."
In her New Year's address, Minister Song said, "This year, while focusing all efforts on stabilizing people’s livelihoods and resolving urgent issues, we will also steadfastly pursue agricultural policies to enhance the future and sustainability of agriculture and rural areas."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to thoroughly manage agricultural product supply and demand to ensure that the public does not worry about food. Minister Song said, "We will rigorously manage risks to prevent supply and demand problems caused by abnormal climate," adding, "To systematically respond to climate change, we will reorganize the entire agricultural value chain based on scientific data."
To this end, the ministry will proactively respond by inspecting crop growth and supporting pesticide supply and technical guidance through a supply and demand management governance involving both public and private sectors. In case of a crisis, a regular stockpiling system focused on open-field vegetables will be established for swift response, and the volume of contract farming will be expanded from 25% to 30% to strengthen crisis response capabilities.
Additionally, advanced technologies such as drones and agricultural satellites will be utilized to enhance prediction and observation for preemptive supply and demand control. The production system will also be reorganized by securing new cultivation sites for major items like summer cabbage and apples, developing varieties and cultivation techniques adapted to climate change, and expanding disaster prevention facilities.
This Lunar New Year holiday, the ministry will launch the largest discount event ever. Minister Song emphasized, "To ease the burden on citizens’ shopping baskets during the Lunar New Year, we will increase the supply of popular items such as apples and Korean beef to the highest level ever," adding, "We will thoroughly prepare by securing advance quantities for items with anticipated supply instability."
Minister Song also plans to proactively respond to rising food and dining prices caused by exchange rate and supply chain risks. To prepare for the sharp rise in raw material prices, the number of processed food raw material tariff quota items will be expanded from 10 to 12, and support items for raw material purchase funds will be increased. Furthermore, to alleviate the burden on dining businesses struggling with high intermediary fees from delivery platforms, a public delivery app will be established, and a system will be created to reflect the reduced fees in prices.
Minister Song intends to simultaneously promote the establishment of income and management safety nets for farmers and strengthen food security. In particular, to prevent the vicious cycle of falling rice prices caused by chronic oversupply, the rice industry’s fundamental structure will be transformed toward "appropriate production, high-quality rice production, and rice consumption expansion." She explained, "The direct payment system will be gradually expanded to a target of 5 trillion won to strengthen basic income and establish income and management safety nets at the level of advanced countries considering management risks," adding, "For the first time since the introduction of the basic public direct payment system, the support unit price for area direct payments was increased by 5%, and the unit price for eco-friendly farming direct payments was raised for the first time in seven years."
The ministry will also continue to promote the expansion of agricultural and food exports. Minister Song said, "We will expand the export territory of the agricultural and food industry not only with K-Food, which has recently gained attention as a representative of the Korean Wave, but also by utilizing smart farms," adding, "To sustain the export growth of K-Food Plus (+), which covers upstream and downstream industries, we will establish export hubs not only in new markets such as the Middle East but also in secondary markets like the US, China, and Japan, supporting promotion and logistics and responding stably to external risks."
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