Saving farming in Korea The Korea Herald Asia News Network Seoul

A "farming road map" announced on the occasion of Farmers Day last week foresees pouring 119 trillion won, or US$100 billion, into loans and subsidies for farmers over the next 10 years. It amounts to releasing some $100,000 to each of the one million farming households in this country. This supposedly generous government plan, however, seems far from meeting farmers' expectations.

Today, farmers' organizations nationwide will stage protest rallies in Seoul and the provinces, demanding a guarantee of their "right to survival." They claim the government is trampling on farmers in favor of other industrial sectors by opening up the agricultural market. They say no farms can survive when various multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements take effect in the next few years.

Allaying the grievances of farmers is an important task for the new administration as general elections are only half a year away, while free trade agreements should be concluded with as many countries as possible, in order not to be left behind in global trade competition. Thus, agricultural authorities have worked out a farm aid plan with the broad goal of raising the average income of farming households to the level of urban workers within the next five years.

Yet our farmers are not impressed by the astronomical figures. Government records reveal that 82 trillion won was released to the nation's farming communities over the past 11 years, including 42 trillion won specifically to help them prepare for the impact of the World Trade Organization that Korea joined in 1995. But the average income of a rural household, which was almost on par with an urban worker's in 1994, fell to 73 percent of it in 2002.

Admitting the general failure of past farming support policies, the agricultural authorities this time established new principles for spending money on farmers. They are: Raising the overall competitiveness of Korean farms through technical guidance, promoting income-boosting businesses in the rural areas by easing various restrictions on land use, and improving educational and welfare systems to ensure higher quality of life.

But no one believes that government support alone can sustain our farms in this era of open markets. Government subsidies may add some 10 percent to their income, but farmers themselves must earn the remaining 90 percent by their own expertise and creativeness, and preferably through collective efforts. In Korea, similar to Japan, farmers work and live on small patches of land and community-based self-help projects are essential for their well-being.

Already success stories abound. Many co-ops have established popular brand names for the fruit they sell at two to three times higher prices. Signs of "environment-friendly farms" have popped up in the countryside linked directly to large-scale outlets in big cities. Farms in convenient locations are divided into small plots, which are leased to city dwellers as "weekend farms."

It is imperative that we save our farms because they are our culture and our life. Koreans eat rice that costs three to four times more than the international price because it is "our rice." To preserve and protect our farms, effective and far-reaching agricultural policies are essential, but what is more important is establishing trust between the government and farmers and between farmers and consumers in the cities.

When our farmers, with their smart brains and diligent hands, offer safe and tasty produce, shoppers will be willing to pay double the price they pay for imports. It will be tough to compete and survive but there will be ways as long as they don't give up.