Farmland Banks

[Anchor Lead]

Farmland banks are attracting attention as a good solution for rural communities that are faced with an aging population and lower earnings, as they lend land at low expense to young people who want to farm. Let’s check it out.

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Harvest is in full swing on a golden field. Farmer Hong Myung-ki, who is driving a combine, is a man in his 30s. He was an office worker before becoming a farmer four years ago. His start was four hectares of land he borrowed from a farmland bank.

[Soundbite] Hong Myung-ki(Farmland Bank Subscriber(32-year-old)) : "I began farming after concluding that there is a future in the agriculture industry and success would be possible if I started now. Farmland is the most necessary resource."

The farmland bank operated by the Korea Rural Community Corporation lends farming land for rents lower than market prices for over five years. The farmland bank's land lease system benefits young people aged between 20 and 39. It is a system for young people who want to settle in rural communities and farm but have no land or sufficient financial resources.

[Soundbite] Kim Jin-soo(Korea Rural Community Corporation) : "We provide the assistance with land that we have in reserve or is entrusted by urban owners."

Until now, 13,000 young people have received assistance from the bank. The area of leased land stands at 2,200 hectares this year, up 16 percent from the same period last year. The system has double benefits: helping to resolve the problem of aging populations in rural communities and reducing idle farmland. One additional advantage is that young farmers are able to borrow larger land and expand their businesses.

[Soundbite] Lee Woo-ri(Farmland Bank Subscriber (34-year-old)) : "My profit has significantly increased to some degree. Another advantage is that I can expand my farming business."

The farmland bank is also expected to boost the competitiveness of rural communities with projects tailored for farmers in each different stage of their life cycle. For example, there's a farmland pension scheme in which elderly farmers receive retirement subsidies by putting up their land as collateral. The bank also purchases land from older farmers.