The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 10th that it uncovered 3,477 violations, including unauthorized cultivation, on guga sites, which are artificial waterways for agricultural water intake and drainage.
The ministry announced the results of operating the normalization task force, including these items, on the same day. The ministry said it delivered results in seven areas out of 39 tasks.
In June, the ministry established unified standards for rectifying illegal facilities in guga, notified local governments and the Korea Rural Community Corporation (KRC), and strengthened the management system by continuously checking implementation. Accordingly, it has uncovered a total of 3,477 violations and is proceeding with restoration to original condition and other measures.
In addition, to prevent abuse of the system, such as falsely applying as if grain purchased locally was produced directly, the ministry enacted the Notice on Entrustment of Tasks for Supporting the Import of Overseas Agricultural Resources into Korea in July.
The ministry also revised guidelines for introducing foreign seasonal workers to address labor shortages during the busy farming season. By revising, with the Ministry of Justice, the Basic Guidelines for the Foreign Seasonal Work Program so that district office chiefs can also apply—previously only mayors and county chiefs could apply—metropolitan city districts can now introduce foreign seasonal workers.
In addition, to support the swift succession of designated successors to the Food Master program, which operates to advance traditional foods, the ministry revised the Guidelines for Designating Food Masters in July. As a result, the designation period for food masters will be shortened from about seven months to around two months.
The ministry also revised guidelines to shorten the time to issue fertilizer application prescriptions for liquid fertilizer, or "aekbi." To spread aekbi on farmland, farmers must obtain an application prescription from city and county agricultural technology centers. Issuance often faced delays as preparations for farming concentrated applications in February to March.
The ministry encouraged expanding the entities that analyze application prescriptions and rationalized soil testing and prescription standards so that aekbi application prescriptions can be issued more quickly.
Also, to support the diets of vulnerable groups and reflect consumer preferences, the ministry overhauled in June the welfare rice supply system, which had centered on ordinary white rice. From July, senior centers, free meal service organizations, and basic livelihood facilities can receive eco-friendly certified rice in addition to white rice.
In the agricultural machinery sector, it said it revised the Act on the Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization in July to eliminate the dual pricing practice of selling agricultural machinery at higher prices to buyers receiving policy funds.
It said it has established a legal basis to restrict sellers who engaged in dual pricing of agricultural machinery from selling machinery supported by government policy funds for up to two years.