Decrease in Land Service and Labor Costs Lowers Rice Production Cost to 29,172 KRW per 20kg

Rice Farming Production Cost per 10a 773,207 KRW... 2.9% Decrease Compared to Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Last year, the production cost of rice per 20kg significantly decreased. This was due to reductions in land service fees and labor hours.

According to the "2019 Rice Production Cost Survey Results" report released by Statistics Korea on the 30th, the production cost of rice per 20kg last year was 29,172 KRW, down 175 KRW (-0.6%) compared to the previous year.

This decrease is attributed to the reduction in production costs per 10a (1000㎡) of rice paddies, where the production cost per 10a last year was 773,205 KRW, a decrease of 23,211 KRW (-2.9%) from the previous year.

This was due to a 3.3% decrease in direct production costs such as labor costs and contract farming fees, and a 2.3% decrease in indirect production costs such as land service fees caused by the decline in rice prices.

The total income per 10a of rice paddies was 1,152,580 KRW, down 25,634 KRW (-2.2%) compared to the previous year.

The income rate per 10a of rice paddies was 57.9%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year, while the net profit rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 32.9% compared to the previous year.

A Statistics Korea official explained, "From 2014, net profits decreased for three consecutive years due to falling farm-gate rice prices, but from 2017, net profits have been increasing for three consecutive years due to rising farm-gate rice prices."

The age group of farm operators was highest for those aged 70 and above, while the 50-59 age group was the lowest. Contract farming fees tend to increase as age rises.

By region, the production cost per 10a of rice paddies was highest in Jeonbuk at 845,000 KRW, followed by Gangwon (798,000 KRW) and Chungbuk (791,000 KRW). The region with the lowest production cost was Gyeongnam at 735,000 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.