Seoul, Nov 13 (IANS): South Korea aimed to expand grants to young farmers as part of efforts to help young and beginning farmers settle in the countryside, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.

Under a program launched in 2018 that provides a maximum of 1.1 million won ($780) a month per farmer for up to three years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs aimed to lift the number of grant recipients to 5,000 by the end of 2024.

The ministry aimed to raise the number to 23,000 in 2025 in a bid to relieve the difficulties faced by young farmers as a result of income decreases at the start-up stage of farming, reports Xinhua news agency.

Of the grant beneficiaries, the percentage of prospective farmers with no experience in farming practices has been on a steady increase from 42.5 per cent in 2018 to 78.3 per cent in 2024.

Among the recipients, the percentage of those not from agricultural high schools or agricultural universities has also been on the rise from 65.6 per cent to 79.9 per cent in the cited period.

It indicated that young people living in urban areas showed higher interest in farming as a job, the ministry noted.

The percentage of young female farmers in the grant recipients has risen from 17.5 per cent in 2018 to 29.6 per cent in 2024, showing more women interested in becoming farmers.