Rice insights

(Wonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Im Bo-yeon = The project to strengthen the competitiveness of the local rice industry in Wonju City and to establish a stable distribution foundation has gained momentum. The construction project for an integrated rice processing center (RPC) was selected in the high-quality rice distribution activation project competition, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and has also passed the central investment review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This project aims to enhance the quality of local rice and improve the distribution system to increase consumer trust and boost farmers' income. The city will accelerate the implementation of the project following the approval of the central investment review. After completing the detailed design and administrative procedures, construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 and be completed by 2027, including the modernization of storage and processing facilities, and plans are in place to strengthen the cooperative framework with the local agricultural cooperatives and the Wonju Agricultural Cooperative Rice Joint Business Corporation. Through this, the city intends to establish a unified system for "production-processing-distribution-sales" by devising specific measures to improve rice quality and awareness and to efficiently operate the facilities. Mayor Won Gang-su of Wonju City said on the 23rd, "This project will be a turning point in raising the quality competitiveness of Wonju rice," and added, "We will do our best to build a systematic distribution foundation so that Totomi, the local brand rice, can be trusted by consumers nationwide." limbo@yna.co.kr

Muan County (Mayor Kim San) announced that on the 21st, 38 people, including members of Meokgol Cheongsilbae, which has a 660-year history of rice cultivation, and officials from Seoul Jungnang-gu Office, visited the county's advanced agricultural site. This visit was organized by the Jungnang-gu Office in collaboration with local agricultural organizations to explore ways for urban-rural symbiosis and sustainable agricultural development. The visit shared know-how such as advanced persimmon cultivation techniques from professional persimmon agricultural managers (Agricultural Meister 1st class) Jin Il-jang's farm. The visiting group showed great interest in cultivation techniques such as persimmon's full power, static electricity, and water shape, as well as physiological and ecological research techniques by variety, and application cases of open-field smart farms.

The Jeonnam Headquarters of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Headquarters Director Lee Gwang-il) visited the Okcheon Agricultural Cooperative's OK Rice Center purchase site in Haenam on the 20th as the purchase of this year's public reserve rice, Sanbul Barley, began in earnest. This site visit was attended by Headquarters Director Lee Gwang-il, Okcheon Agricultural Cooperative Chairman Yoon Chi-young, Haenam Branch Director Ha Jeong-pil, and other related parties. They checked the progress of the purchase and listened to issues at the harvester sites, discussing response measures. Meanwhile, in the Jeonnam region, rice blast disease has recently occurred in approximately 13,330 hectares (about 4.1 times the increase compared to the previous year), raising concerns about a decrease in rice milling rate and quality. Accordingly, the Agricultural Cooperative is taking measures to prevent the mixing of damaged rice by grade.