KT&G said Thursday it carried out a volunteer program to help tobacco leaf farmers struggling with labor shortages during the harvest season. About 20 KT&G employees visited a tobacco farm in Bongnam-myeon, Gimje, North Jeolla Province, on Wednesday to assist with harvesting.
KT&G has visited tobacco farms every year since 2007 to conduct volunteer activities. Tobacco leaf harvesting is a field that mostly requires manual labor, and farmers face labor shortages every year. Accordingly, KT&G practices mutual growth with farmers by lending a hand during major farming seasons throughout the year, from seedling transplanting in spring to harvesting in summer.
To improve farmer welfare, the company delivered 400 million won in May this year to cover health checkup costs and children's tuition for tobacco leaf growers. In the same month, it also decided to raise the purchase price of domestic tobacco leaf to ease the burden on farmers struggling with high oil prices and rising labor costs.
"For farmers struggling to secure labor due to a declining and aging rural population, we have continued seedling transplanting and harvesting volunteer work for 20 years," said Jung Sung-heon, head of KT&G's Purchasing Operations Division. "We will continue to provide various forms of support beyond volunteer activities to achieve mutual growth with farmers."
