Maximizing Profits by Planting High-Income Crops Instead of Just Rice
Boosting Efficiency and Cutting Costs through Shared Use of Agricultural Machinery
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution, climate crisis, and aging population threaten the sustainability of rural areas, Cheongdo County’s ongoing “Agricultural Transformation” initiative is yielding tangible results.
The “cooperative farming” model, introduced to overcome the limitations of small-scale subsistence farming, is leading to increased farm incomes and is being recognized as a blueprint for the future of rural communities.
Since the launch of the 8th popularly elected administration, Cheongdo County has declared “Agricultural Transformation” as one of its three major policy visions and has accelerated structural reforms.
The core of this initiative, the “Innovative Agriculture Town,” operates the entire village as a single agricultural corporation.
In this generational win-win structure, young farmers lead the farming operations while elderly farmers lease their land and participate as member farms, thereby reducing labor burdens and maximizing both productivity and profitability.
In fact, the first “Innovative Agriculture Town” established in Gakbuk-myeon (80 hectares) moved away from rice monoculture and introduced a diversified cropping system including soybeans, garlic, and onions, resulting in a remarkable 3.1-fold increase in the incomes of participating farms compared to previous levels.
Buoyed by this success, the county has confirmed the establishment of a second site in Punggak-myeon and announced its commitment to expand this model to all towns and villages through the “Agricultural Transformation Launch Ceremony” scheduled for June 2025.
Kim Hasu, head of Cheongdo County, emphasized, “Agricultural Transformation is not simply about increasing support, but about fundamentally innovating the structure of agriculture. We are determined to realize a Cheongdo agriculture where stable incomes can be achieved through farming alone.”
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