Park vows to improve agriculture distribution system

Park vows to improve agriculture distribution system SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye vowed Wednesday to improve the agriculture distribution system in a way that will lead to higher incomes for producers and lower prices for consumers. Park visited a distribution center in southern Seoul and an adjacent marketplace where producers sell goods directly to consumers in what appeared to be a move to underline her commitment to caring for ordinary people. President Park Geun-hye (R) picks potatoes at a market in southern Seoul on March 13, 2013. (Yonhap) "I noticed during my trips across the nation that producers of agricultural and livestock goods are suffering from low prices to the extent that sometimes they have to dig up their crops and abandon their fields, but consumers are actually struggling to put food on their tables because the prices are too high," she said. Both producers and consumers are left unhappy because of a complicated distribution system in which 70 percent of the steps involved in trading vegetables and 50 percent in trading fruits are unnecessary, she added. Building a more efficient distribution structure for agricultural and livestock products is included in the package of tasks the new administration plans to pursue. Under the plan, producers will earn more and consumers will pay less through an expansion of direct trading that involves fewer distribution steps than wholesale markets. "If we are able to establish a system that raises (consumer) confidence, then consumers will be reassured even when prices fluctuate and (continue to) buy agricultural and livestock products," Park said. hague@yna.co.kr (END)