Research Reports
Policy Programs for Introducing a Direct Payment System for Organic and Antibiotic-Free Livestock Products in Korea
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AuthorKim, Changgil
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Publication Date2008.03.01
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Original
A direct payment system for promoting environment-friendly livestock products was adopted as a pilot project from 2004 to 2006. However, the project was held back in 2007 due to livestock farmers' inactive participation and the ill-preparedness of a certification system for organic livestock products. With an increasing interest in safe agricultural and livestock products and a growing adoption of eco-friendly livestock policies, a certification system was introduced for organic livestock products in 2001, and it was extended to cover antibiotic-free livestock products in 2007. Taking these shifts into consideration, it is necessary to adopt a direct payment system to promote organic and antibiotic-free livestock products and foster farmers raising livestock that are environmentally friendly.
The objectives of this study were to estimate the costs of supporting a direct payment system and to present programs that can activate the system in the four livestock categories of Korean cattle, dairy cattle, pigs and poultry (laying or breeding species).
This study has found that, as for the certification of organic livestock in terms of areas and livestock species, certifications were issued evenly nationwide in the case of laying poultry, but higher issuance of certification was shown in specific areas in the case of Korean cattle, dairy cattle and pigs. Certifications of antibiotic-free livestock were made nationwide in the categories other than dairy cattle and pigs. In addition, this study has found that significant quantities of certified antibiotic-free livestock were handled the same as in ordinary livestock breeds, and the estimated market volume of certified organic and antibiotic-free livestock products as a whole reached an annual market value of 280 billion won to 350 billion won.
An in-depth survey was made on eco-friendly livestock farming households to examine the production and to estimate the unit cost of direct payment. Purposive sampling was applied to select suitable farmers for this purpose.
The unit cost of direct payment per head was calculated all together considering income levels and the proportions of production cost charged on ordinary livestock farmers and organic/antibiotic-free livestock producers, and the unit costs were found as follows: 30,000 to 50,000 won for antibiotic-free beef and 250,000 to 350,000 won for organic beef; 10,000 to 20,000 won for antibiotic-free pork and 30,000 to 50,000 won for organic pork; 100 to 200 won for antibiotic-free laying poultry and 1,000 to 2,000 won for organic laying poultry; and 50 to 100 won for antibiotic-free breeding poultry and 200 to 300 won for organic breeding poultry.
Three basic policy suggestions were made to implement a direct payment system for organic and antibiotic-free products: first, the unit cost should be appropriately determined to ensure that livestock farmers practice eco-friendly farming; second, supplementary alternatives should be sought to determine whether the pilot project can be continuously carried out in its actual, full-fledged implementation afterwards; and third, considerations should be made to maximize the policy performance with relevant polices.
Researchers: Chang-Gil Kim, Byung-Joon Woo, and Sang-Gun Lee
Research period: 2007. 12. - 2008. 3.
E-mail address: changgil@krei.re.kr
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