• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.35-45
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• 2019

Korean agriculture experienced rapid changes in its production structure to respond fluctuations on external conditions, and these changes have increased the dependence between agricultural resources and negative environmental externalities from agricultural production. As a tool for managing agricultural resources and reducing negative environmental effects from agricultural production, this study employs water-energy-food nexus for integrated resource management. To show the necessity of an integrated approach, this study evaluated three policy scenarios including changes in capital interest, water capacity, and energy cost. The results show that three scenarios have unintended consequences for farmers' incomes and their use of resources. Also the unintended consequences of government policies also affected farms' vulnerability to environmental changes. In particular, the expansion of financing for the establishment of non-circulating water curtain facilities did not have a significant effect on the crop switching of farms. In addition, increasing the amount of available water through the aquifer recharge project leads to the installation of non-circulating water curtain facilities in zucchini farm. It raises dependence on groundwater in agricultural production, thereby increasing farmers' vulnerability to groundwater shortages. These results imply that the agricultural sector needs to consider the interrelationship between agricultural resources when designing or evaluating policies.