The government recognizes rice planthopper damage as an agricultural disaster and pays disaster recovery expenses.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recently held the ‘Agricultural Disaster Countermeasure Deliberation Committee’ at the Sejong Government Complex and made this decision. Local governments will receive damage status reports by the 21st and disaster recovery expenses such as green onions and pesticides will be paid out within November.
Green onions and pesticides will be paid differentially according to the damage rate. Farmers with a damage rate of 80% or more will receive KRW 3.52 million per 1ha (3,000 pyeong) in green onions (50% subsidy, 30% loan, 20% self-payment). Farmers with a damage rate of 30% or more but less than 80% will receive KRW 790,000 per 1ha in pesticides (100% subsidy).
If you have subscribed to crop disaster insurance (pest control special contract), you will receive insurance money but will not receive green onions. However, if the damage rate is less than 80%, pesticide expenses can be paid regardless of whether or not insurance money is received.
If damage occurs in more than 50% of the total cultivation area owned by a farm, a livelihood support fund of KRW 1,178,400 for 2 people and KRW 1,833,500 for 4 people is provided.
Agricultural policy fund repayment postponement and interest reduction benefits are also provided. If the damage rate per farm is 30% or more but less than 50%, repayment can be postponed for 1 year, and if it is 50% or more, repayment can be postponed for 2 years. If additional funds are needed for farm management, a disaster management fund of up to KRW 50 million will be loaned at an interest rate of 1.8%.
This is the first time that rice planthopper damage has been recognized as an agricultural disaster. The ‘Agricultural and Fisheries Disaster Countermeasures Act’ considers pests and diseases directly caused by drought, flood, heavy rain, typhoons, strong winds, and abnormally low temperatures as ‘pests and diseases designated by presidential decree’ and determines the resulting damage as an agricultural disaster. Among pests and diseases, only the ear blast disease that appeared in rice in 2014 and 2021 was recognized as an agricultural disaster.
Rice planthoppers are pests that are introduced into Korea from China in June and July, and control is possible, but this year, due to the unusually high temperatures that continued until the end of September, rice planthoppers multiplied in large numbers, causing significant damage to farmers. An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, “Considering the fact that control was difficult due to the abnormal climate, we recognized it as an agricultural disaster.”
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is preventing the distribution of low-quality rice by dividing rice damaged by rice planthoppers and rice damaged by heavy rain in September.
