대한민국 쌀 인사이트

[Reporter Gu Ja-ryong, Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper] As local governments are trying to use the rice farm management stabilization fund, which is fully supported by local government funds, to give priority to farms that have reduced rice cultivation by linking it with the government’s rice cultivation area adjustment system, there are growing voices calling for it to be stopped. The Jeon Nong-Busan-Gyeongnam Federation and the Jeon Yeo-Nong-Gyeongnam Federation, along with the Gyeongnam Regional Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and representatives of civic groups and progressive parties in the Gyeongnam region, held a press conference in front of the Gyeongnam Provincial Office on the 17th to condemn the combination of the government’s rice cultivation area adjustment system and Gyeongnam Province’s rice farm management stabilization fund support project. In a press release, the participants stated, “By reducing rice farming by 80,000 ha, domestic production will decrease by approximately 400,000 tons.”

[Korea Agricultural and Fisheries Newspaper Reporter Kim Young-min] The Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Institute (hereinafter referred to as the Rural Development Institute) will supply 470 tons of whole-grain rice seeds to farmers in March. The varieties to be supplied are 300 tons of the ‘Mokyang’ variety and 170 tons of the ‘Yeongwoo’ variety developed by the Rural Development Administration. The use of whole-grain rice is evaluated as being able to increase the domestic forage self-sufficiency rate while replacing general rice. In addition, when whole-grain rice is fed to Korean cattle as feed, there is no difference in meat quality compared to imported forage, and in the case of dairy cows, it has also been shown to increase milk production. In fact, the Rural Development Administration conducted a test with a research team at Seoul National University on feeding whole-grain rice for feed to Korean cattle and dairy cows, and the results were as follows:

[Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper, Reporter Kyung-wook Kim] As the ‘rice price surge’ situation continues in Japan, there is a suggestion that the Korean government, which is pursuing a policy of reducing large-scale rice cultivation areas, should learn from Japan’s case. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Rural Economic Institute (hereinafter referred to as the RA) are wary of overinterpreting the situation, saying, “The surge in rice prices in Japan is due to a temporary increase in demand and stagnation in distribution, and is different from the rice supply and demand situation in our country.” According to the ‘Japanese rice supply and demand and price trend’ recently submitted by the RA to the office of Song Ok-joo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the monthly average for 2020-2022 is 12,600 won based on 60 kg of brown rice.