The agricultural land survey should be a policy that instills hope in farmers. The government's initiative to conduct a comprehensive land survey is essential to prevent land speculation and establish the principle of land ownership for farming. It is the state's responsibility to manage agricultural land as a foundation for production, not as a target for speculation. However, if the process of implementing this policy causes the farmers who have dedicated their lives to agriculture to suffer the most, then the policy must be reassessed.
Recently, there have been reports of a severe stagnation in rural areas, with land transactions effectively coming to a halt. As uncertainty surrounding the survey increases, potential buyers are disappearing, while the number of farmers looking to sell their land is rising. This is particularly concerning for elderly farmers preparing for retirement, who are unable to sell the land they have cultivated for a lifetime, complicating their retirement planning and financial stability. The reality that agricultural land, the last asset for many farmers, is not fetching its true value is not just an individual issue but a serious social problem threatening the sustainability of our agriculture.
Moreover, the decline in land prices does not only affect individual farmers' assets. A drop in the collateral value of agricultural land makes it difficult to secure farming funds, exposing local agricultural cooperatives that rely on land as collateral to financial instability. This creates a vicious cycle that leads to a contraction in agricultural finance and a downturn in the local economy. In some regions, agricultural land has been auctioned multiple times, selling for less than half of its appraised value. The decline in farmers' asset values inevitably diminishes the vitality of the entire rural economy. It is time for land policy to shift from a focus on regulation and enforcement to one that provides hope for farmers.
Above all, a stable institutional framework must be established to ensure that elderly farmers who have farmed diligently for many years can retire securely. The public purchase criteria for land that has been self-cultivated for over ten years should be relaxed to reflect reality, and provisions should be made for the public to purchase small plots of land or land designated for development if certain conditions are met. The state must serve as a minimum safety net for farmers who find themselves unable to sell their land.
Additionally, agricultural pensions and retirement subsidies for land transfer should be expanded to help farmers secure stable retirement income without having to sell their land quickly. At the same time, policies for long-term leasing, joint farming, and land consolidation should be strengthened to facilitate easier access for young and successor farmers to lease or purchase land. Creating a virtuous cycle where land transitions from retiring farmers to young farmers is the most important investment for the future of agriculture.
Ultimately, this land survey should not be an administrative tool for detection and punishment but a starting point for redesigning national land policy. By analyzing the actual land use in different regions, we can promote land consolidation and scaling up, establishing a system to productively utilize land that is inefficiently used. If the survey results are only used as a basis for regulation, farmers' anxieties and market contraction will only grow. Conversely, if these results are utilized to enhance land use efficiency and improve agricultural structure, the survey could mark a new turning point for our agriculture.
Agriculture is not an industry that exists for short-term gains. Respecting the lives of farmers who have sustained rural areas for decades and creating an environment where the next generation can enter agriculture with hope is the essence of agricultural policy. The government should view farmers not as subjects of regulation but as partners in safeguarding agriculture. The success of the land survey will depend not on how many violations are detected but on whether it stabilizes farmers' lives, revitalizes the rural economy, and opens new opportunities for young farmers.
What rural areas need now is not enforcement but a warmer and more realistic land policy that allows land to become a source of hope for farmers, a future for youth, and a valuable asset for the nation to ensure food security.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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