Ministry of Agriculture Announces 6th Five-Year Plan for the Promotion of Eco-Friendly Agriculture (2026?2030)
The government has announced plans to actively promote the expansion of production infrastructure and improvement of distribution systems in order to double the scale of eco-friendly organic agriculture. Eco-friendly organic agriculture refers to farming that excludes chemical fertilizers and pesticides, instead utilizing natural resources such as organic matter and microorganisms to preserve the agricultural ecosystem and produce safe agricultural products.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs established and announced the "6th Five-Year Plan for the Promotion of Eco-Friendly Agriculture (2026-2030)" on December 29, 2025, with these objectives at its core.
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "Since the launch of the first five-year plan for eco-friendly agriculture in 2001, a total of five basic plans have been implemented over the past 25 years, contributing to the development of eco-friendly agriculture." The official added, "Despite these policy efforts, the area of eco-friendly certified farmland has been declining since 2020 due to both internal and external factors such as climate change, an aging population, and rising prices."
In response, the ministry has operated a planning team since April this year to draft the 6th plan, and in the second half of the year, gathered input from producers, consumers, and experts through the 'K-Agricultural Policy Council's Eco-Friendly Subcommittee,' which led to the formulation of this plan.
First, the ministry plans to expand the production base for eco-friendly agriculture by improving the profitability and management stability of eco-friendly certified farms. It will review the appropriate payment rates for eco-friendly direct payment programs through surveys and public consultation to enhance profitability, and relax the restrictions on the number of payments per plot to encourage new farms to transition to eco-friendly agriculture. In addition, the number of eco-friendly agriculture cluster zones, currently at 66, will be increased, and various support policies such as strengthening technology dissemination and education will be implemented. In particular, regulations will be revised to lower entry barriers for young and small-scale farmers who lack capital and experience.
The ministry will also launch a farmland bank notification service to help eco-friendly farmers easily find and receive priority access to farmland. Additional support measures, such as priority use of the farmland bank and long-term leases (including transition periods), will be considered to help young eco-friendly farmers enter the field more easily.
To expand the demand base for eco-friendly agricultural products, the ministry will promote public demand and stimulate private consumption. Starting next year, the ministry will resume the eco-friendly agricultural product support program, providing 40,000 won per month for six months to 160,000 pregnant women. The area of eco-friendly rice cultivation for welfare purposes, supplied by the ministry to vulnerable groups, will be increased through strengthened cooperation between the central and local governments, and additional incentives will be considered if necessary. The ministry also plans to actively use the green product designation system to encourage the consumption of eco-friendly agricultural products in public food services. To this end, cooperation with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and local governments will be strengthened.
The ministry aims to expand the distribution and sales network for eco-friendly agricultural products, increase added value, and boost exports by actively fostering the organic processed food industry. To make eco-friendly agricultural products more accessible and convenient for consumers, the ministry will promote online sales, large retail stores, and direct transactions, and will work with local governments to consider establishing regional logistics centers for eco-friendly agricultural products to reduce logistics costs.
To foster the organic processed food industry, a consultative body will be operated with participation from related agencies, companies, eco-friendly farmers, consumers, and academia. Through industry feedback, the ministry will identify and improve regulatory issues in the organic processed food sector. In particular, the ministry will focus on supporting and discovering export-promising products such as green tea, processed rice foods, and beverages-products that are easily sourced domestically and have market potential overseas. To this end, the ministry will actively support joint marketing of organic processed foods and overseas promotion of K-organic processed foods (such as trade fairs and inviting overseas buyers) in cooperation with private organizations in related fields.
In addition, the ministry plans to boldly improve the eco-friendly agriculture certification system to ensure that farmers can continue eco-friendly agriculture with peace of mind. If a farm establishes and faithfully implements preventive measures, certification will be maintained even if contamination levels exceed permissible standards due to unintentional causes. However, such agricultural products will be delayed from shipment or discarded to protect both eco-friendly farmers and consumers. The ministry will also promptly conduct scientific research on the carbon reduction effects of eco-friendly agriculture and, based on extensive public consultation, will remove barriers between similar certification systems and reduce unnecessary certification burdens, so that eco-friendly farmers who meet certain requirements can more easily obtain low-carbon certification.
Lee Si-hye, Director-General for Food and Agriculture Innovation Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Through this 6th plan, we hope Korean agriculture will transition to a sustainable model, and that public awareness will once again focus on the environmental value of eco-friendly agriculture, leading to greater value-based consumption of eco-friendly agricultural products." She added, "The government will actively pursue key tasks such as securing stable sales channels for eco-friendly agricultural products, improving the profitability of eco-friendly farmers, reforming the certification system, and establishing a public-private implementation system so that eco-friendly organic agriculture can embark on a new path of growth and development."
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