The government will expand the 'strategic crop direct payment program' to strengthen food security and stabilize rice prices. The plan to exclude farms that do not reduce rice cultivation area from the buyer target, which was considered an alternative to the financially burdensome 'strategic crop direct payment,' has been discarded. The strategic crop direct payment program refers to a program that provides additional direct payments to farms that cultivate low self-sufficiency crops such as wheat or beans on rice-producing land.
According to aggregated reporting from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the 8th, the government is reviewing the expansion of the 'strategic crop direct payment program' for next year. A government official noted, "We are discussing the area and items eligible for the strategic crop direct payment program and the scale of the increased payments to converting farms," adding, "We intend to promote a policy that expands farm incentives to increase the cultivation of low self-sufficiency grains and prevent oversupply of rice."
The government is currently operating a basic direct payment system to strengthen food security and guarantee farmers' incomes. In the past, it was called the 'rice direct payment.' For areas classified as rice and farming development zones, payments are made at 2.15 million won per hectare for areas of up to 2 hectares, 2.07 million won for areas from 2 to 6 hectares, and 1.98 million won for areas exceeding 6 hectares.
The strategic crop direct payment program refers to a program that provides additional direct payments when low self-sufficiency crops such as wheat or beans are cultivated on rice-producing land. Since rice has a higher mechanization rate than other crops and requires relatively less effort, the aim is to provide more economic benefits to farms that continue to cultivate rice, enabling them to grow different crops.
This system was first introduced in 2023. In its first year, the area eligible for the strategic crop direct payment program was 125,000 hectares (ha, 1 ha = 10,000 m²), which expanded to 148,000 ha in 2024 and 164,000 ha in 2025.
The direct payments vary depending on the grain cultivated. In winter, 500,000 won for barley and forage, and 1 million won for wheat are paid per hectare; in summer, 1 million won for corn and sesame, 2 million won for legumes and rice flour, and 5 million won for forage are provided. Corn and sesame are newly added items this year.
Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Economy and Finance are reviewing the expansion of eligible items for the strategic crop direct payment and an increase in payment amounts. Items potentially added next year include 'millet rice' (foxtail millet) and 'peanuts.' A government official explained that the payment amount is being adjusted based on the grain selling price, market demand, and financial capacity.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs established a 'two-track' policy during the previous government to induce a reduction in rice production. One is the carrot measure of expanding the 'strategic crop direct payment,' while the other is the carrot-and-stick approach of excluding farms that do not reduce rice cultivation from the buyer target. The idea was to allocate public stockpiled rice at purchase prices 7-10% higher than the market price to farms that comply with the reduction, while those that do not participate would be excluded from public purchases.
However, this idea faced criticism for dividing farmers and was deemed impractical. A representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, "It was practically difficult to distribute the regional target reduction area to individual farms when setting the reduction targets at the regional level." Ultimately, the agricultural authorities decided to withdraw the plan to exclude farms that do not reduce rice cultivation from the buyer target, and instead negotiated with financial authorities to expand the support for the carrot measure.
Minister Song Mi-ryeong noted during a field meeting in Buan-gun, Jeollbuk-do, on the 29th of last month that "If major crops like beans are cultivated more instead of rice in paddies, we can achieve both stable rice supply and strengthened food security." She added that the government would significantly expand its budget to encourage agricultural workers to actively participate in growing alternative crops and that responsibility would be reinforced if unavoidable oversupply situations occur, including government purchases.
President Lee Jae-myung also asked Minister Song during a Cabinet meeting on the 5th of last month, "If rice oversupply occurs, it might be excessive for the government to purchase annually at its own expense. Have you reviewed the plan to reduce the cultivation area and secure a budget for supporting alternative crops?"
In response, Minister Song said, "There is a support plan for about 33,000 hectares of strategic crops," adding, "Our goal this year is to continually persuade farms to reduce the rice cultivation area by about 80,000 hectares." It is reported that President Lee agreed with the plan to expand the cultivation of alternative crops that Minister Song explained and that Minister Song was retained as the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in the new government.