Korea Eco-Friendly Farm Payment Certification and Payment Count Calculator

Korea’s eco-friendly farm payment depends on each parcel’s certification and payment history

This calculator is based on Korean rules for the 2026 business year and is meant for farms certified in South Korea.
The eco-friendly agriculture direct payment is a selective public-interest payment made per hectare to land that holds organic or pesticide-free certification and follows the certification standards throughout the business period.
For the same area, the rate ranges from KRW 570,000 to KRW 1,400,000 per hectare depending on which payment this is for the parcel, whether it is organic or pesticide-free, and whether it grows paddy crops or fruit.
The calculator takes each parcel’s certificate period and past payments and shows this year’s payment number and rate, the payments left and the year the continuing-organic rate begins.

Farms that have kept certification for years often expect last year’s amount again.
However, the pesticide-free payment is made only three times per parcel, and the organic rate applies only up to five payments including those pesticide-free payments.
From the sixth payment the rate falls to the continuing-organic rate, 60% of the organic rate, so a miscounted certification year can upset both the budget and the application plan.

What changed in 2026: low-pesticide history and new farms

Entry requirements for new eco-friendly farms were also eased.
Previously both existing and new farms needed certification valid from November 1 of the prior year to October 31, which in practice kept first-year farms out.
From 2026, a new farm can qualify by submitting a certificate valid at some point between March and June of the business year.
Applications also widened: online through the Nongeop-eG portal in March–April and in person at the local office in May–June.

2026 eco-friendly payment rate table

Rates fall into nine cells by certification stage and crop, in KRW per hectare (10,000 m²).
The paddy rate applies only to land growing rice, lotus root, water parsley or sedge; other land receives the field rate even if registered as a paddy.
Field land is further split into vegetables, special and other crops, and orchards.

Some screens, including the Government24 service page, still show 2020 guideline rates such as KRW 700,000 organic, KRW 500,000 pesticide-free and KRW 350,000 continuing for paddies.
This calculator uses only the current Annex 1 amounts retrieved from the Korean National Law Information Center.

Payment count rules: three pesticide-free, five organic, continuing from the sixth

Article 22(3) of the Enforcement Decree of Korea’s Public-interest Direct Payment Act pays the organic payment for as long as organic produce is grown and the pesticide-free payment three times in total.
Article 22(4) allows a different rate from the sixth continuing organic payment and adds pesticide-free payments received on the same parcel to that count.
Counts follow the parcel, not the farm household.

Match the certificate period to the business period

Under Article 21 of Korea’s Environment-friendly Agriculture Act, organic and pesticide-free certification is valid for one year from the certification date and must be renewed before it expires to continue.
The eco-friendly payment business period runs from November 1 of the prior year to October 31, so a late renewal that leaves even a one-day gap can drop the parcel from payment.
The calculator therefore asks for the first date of uninterrupted certification, including earlier certificates, and the end date of the current certificate.

• Existing parcels: continuous certification must start on or before November 1 of the prior year and end on or after October 31.
  
• New parcels: with no certification history as of October 31 of the prior year, submit a certificate valid by June 30 and keep it through October 31.
  
• New rice parcels: MAFRA’s 2025 guidance and 2026 local notices describe an extra August–September intake, so July–September certification needs that notice confirmed.
  
• If certification is revoked, expires or is abandoned within the business year, the payment is withheld or must be repaid.
  

Eligible area, the 0.1 ha minimum and the 30 ha cap

The payment equals the rate multiplied by the area farmed under eco-friendly standards.
The calculator uses the smaller of the applied area and the certified area on the certificate, minus land that Annex 2 of the notice excludes.
Land above the certified area, hydroponic or nutrient-solution cultivation and mushrooms grown on artificial substrate or in containers, land used to gather wild plants and land without signs of normal cultivation are not eligible.
Mushrooms grown by inoculating logs while managing the soil remain eligible.

Worked example: a three-parcel farm in 2026 and over seven years

The following is fictional and matches the calculator’s “Load fictional example”.
All three parcels are assumed to have continuous certification and a passed inspection.

Step-by-step use and how to read the results

1. Choose the business year.
   2026 reviews a payment already applied for; 2027 is preparation that assumes the 2026 rules continue.
   
2. Confirm farm registration, filed application, matching certificate data, duplicate claims and change reports, selection bans and any farm-transfer payment.
   
3. For each parcel choose the crop rate type and certification stage and enter applied, certified and ineligible area in m².
   
4. Enter the continuous certification start, the current end date, whether the parcel is new and the inspection result.
   
5. Enter the same parcel’s past pesticide-free, organic-conversion, organic and low-pesticide payments.
   
6. Read the conditional payment, each parcel’s number and reasons and the seven-year schedule, then save the CSV.
   

The “reference including unconfirmed parcels” is an arithmetic value that leaves out excluded parcels and keeps unconfirmed ones.
The conditional payment opens only when every common item and parcel is confirmed, and unknown items are never turned into zero.
The seven-year schedule assumes the same area, 2026 rates and continued compliance, so recalculate after a rate revision or area change.

When to use it

Cautions and limits

Frequently asked questions