The value of damage to agricultural crops caused by wildlife such as boars and elk amounted to 54.2 billion won over the past five years. (Image courtesy of Rawpixel)
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The value of damage to agricultural crops caused by wildlife such as boars and elk amounted to 54.2 billion won over the past five years.
According to data received by Eoh Kiy-ku, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Agriculture Policy Insurance & Finance Service, agricultural crop damage caused by wildlife totaled 54.1 billion won from 2018 to 2022.
During the same period, there were 49,068 cases of damage by birds and mammals reported to the Agricultural Disaster Insurance.
Regarding damage caused by harmful wildlife, recovery costs are subsidized under the Agrofishery Disaster Relief Act, similar to natural disasters.
Broken down by wildlife type, damage caused by boars was the highest at 33.03 billion won.
In terms of crop-specific damage, vegetables ranked first with 12.18 billion won, followed by apples with 7.73 billion won and rice with 6.71 billion won.
The hardest-hit region in terms of agricultural crop damage was Gangwon Province, which suffered 9.86 billion won in damages over the past five years.
Representative Eoh stressed, “Wild animals cause agricultural crop damage worth over 10 billion won every year. Efforts are needed to expand support for the installation of damage prevention facilities, as well as to increase the level of compensation payments.”
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
