대한민국 쌀 인사이트

[By Lee Kang-san, Korea Farmers' Newspaper] Haenam County in South Jeolla Province is expanding long-grain rice as a strategic crop to respond to climate change and boost overseas rice exports, and is embarking on establishing a new agricultural model integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) agricultural technology. On June 20, Haenam County held a 'Climate Change Response AI Agricultural Technology Field Demonstration' at Gohyeon-ri in Hyeonsan-myeon, with around 50 participants including the Rural Development Administration, Sejong University, CJ CheilJedang, and local farmers. The demonstration, conducted in the long-grain rice export specialized cultivation area currently being developed by Haenam County, showcased autonomous driving agricultural machinery and AI analysis technologies based on agricultural satellites and drones.

As rice prices at production sites surpassed 201,680 won (80kg), the government is toying with the idea of releasing public reserve rice. However, this rice price recovery is a process of normalizing prices that had fallen to around 170,000 won during last year's harvest season, so releasing public reserve rice should be restrained. According to the Statistics Korea survey on production site rice prices released on the 17th, rice prices as of June 15th were 201,680 won per 80kg, recovering to the 200,000 won range for the first time since November 2023. This rice price increase is a result of multiple factors, including reduced production volume during last year's harvest season and insufficient inventory. At the field level, rice prices are finally finding their normal level.

The 2025 Rice Flour Bakery Pilgrimage has begun. Its first step is the popup exhibition hall in Seoul's Seongsu-dong, a district dense with popup stores, where visitors can taste new rice flour bread products from 102 bakeries over two days, the 20th and 21st. Prepared jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, and the Korea Confectionery Association, this popup exhibition hall offers not only the award-winning entries from the 'Rice Flour Confectionery and Bakery New Menu Tasting Contest' held at the aT Center 10 days ago, but also allows for sampling. At that contest, Chocolat Hazelnut Pastry (Jean Boulangerie), Nut Bon made with rice flour (Bread Factory Mancam), and Fig Butter & Milk (Lavito) were among the award winners. Starting from the Seongsu-dong popup exhibition hall, the 2025 Rice Flour Bakery Pilgrimage will operate nationwide from June 23 to November 30. Customers purchasing rice flour bread and ...