The South Korean government will increase funding for horticulture disasters by KRW68.5 billion (US$63.7 million) in 2014, representing a year-on-year rise of 34%.

Flood damages. Photo: MAFRA

A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) release said the new plan, launched on Oct. 1, would apply to nine crops on a nationwide level: watermelons, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, oriental melons, pumpkins, chrysanthemum, roses, and house crops.

In addition, the plan introduces three new crops into the plan with chives, lettuce and spinach, with a demonstration project expansion from 51 to 70 cities.

The new funding plan, oriented to home farmers, will simplify the documents required for horticultural facility insurance registration, with the applicable items, regions and coverage "largely extended".

"While many major instances of damage have occurred due to recent extreme weather conditions like high winds, heavy snows, or flooding, partial areas could apply for the insurance. This sort of issue is expected to be resolved with the new changes to the insurance policies," MAFRA said in the release.

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