FARMERS SUFFER FROM DAM ACCIDENT

[Anchor Lead]

Farmers in Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do Province, are having a hard time because of the damage incurred on their ginseng crops by the discharge of a nearby dam last summer and the plunging prices of rice. Most of the farmers had to discard their rotten ginseng and start cultivating rice to make a living. Their losses have snowballed even before they managed to recover their production costs. (REPO

[Pkg]

A farmer looks anxiously at his rice harvest. He switched to rice cultivation after his ginseng field was damaged by the discharge of a nearby dam last summer. But, now another dilemma as he can't sell the rice because prices have plunged recently. He is at a loss as to how to sell the 300 sacks of rice, each weighing 40kg. The government has no additional plans to purchase rice from the farmers.

[Soundbite] Kim Sang-woo(Farmer) : "I need to sell it as soon as possible to repay my debt."

Hundreds of households in Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do Province started cultivating rice after their ginseng crops were damaged by the dam discharge. That's also the reason the area of rice fields in Geumsan grew by 300 ha from last year. As a result, rice production has surged by 60 percent, but only half of it was purchased by the government. The farmers have to figure out what to do with the remaining half. To make matters worse, prices of rice have declined 10 percent on-year, making it difficult for the local farmers to even repay their loan interest.

[Soundbite] Kim Yong-soo(Farmer) : "I have to pay my loan interest and principle at the end of the year, but I don't have money. I'll have to get another loan."

The local government is demanding that the central government buy the entire amount of rice cultivated in flood-hit areas.

[Soundbite] Park Ji-hyo(Geumsan-gun County Government) : "The government should buy the entire amount of crops produced by our local farmers who have sustained losses because of the flood."

Farmers are also asking to let them suspend their loan payments until they receive compensation for the flood damage and get back on their feet.