Jeonnam's Top 10 High-Quality Brand Rice Selected: 'Gokseong Baeksemi'

Fruits of Efforts Like Eco-Friendly Farming in Pristine Environment with Beautiful Mountains and Clear Waters

Rich Nurungji Aroma and Long-Lasting Stickiness Sell Out Every Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 21st that Baeksemi, the region's representative rice, has been selected as one of Jeonnam's top 10 high-quality brand rices.

Jeonnam Province selects the top 10 high-quality brand rices to promote the excellence of Jeonnam rice by choosing rice that consumers can trust and seek out.

Brand rices recommended by each city and county are objectively verified by six specialized institutions, including the Agricultural Technology Institute and the Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, based on taste, quality, safety, and varietal purity. In particular, to enhance fairness, samples are randomly collected twice from the market for testing.

Baeksemi, selected as one of the top 10 high-quality brand rices, is produced and sold by Seokgok Nonghyup. It is known for its unique scorched rice aroma and savory taste, and it is also famous as the rice personally purchased by President Moon Jae-in during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

Generally, rice with a protein content of 6.5 or less is considered to have good taste, and Baeksemi has a protein content of only about 5.3. Another standard for measuring rice taste, the Toyoshiki taste value, is above 85, and thanks to its low amylose content of 12±1%, it maintains a rich aroma and chewy texture for a long time.

The excellent quality of Baeksemi is a result of the perfect environment and efforts to produce superior rice. Since rice grows by absorbing water, the quality of rice depends on water quality. Gokseong-gun, where Baeksemi is produced, has a clean environment characterized by a basin terrain surrounded by clean water and mountains.

Additionally, efforts by farmers and Seokgok Nonghyup include 100% eco-friendly farming using freshwater snails, 100% contract cultivation production, and processing using hygienic GAP-certified facilities.

Thanks to these efforts, Baeksemi, which started sales in 2017, won the National Assembly Speaker's Award at the National Eco-friendly Agricultural Products Fair in November of the same year. It then achieved a consecutive win by receiving the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award in August 2018.

Furthermore, it earned the bronze prize at the 2018 Nonghyup Best Practice Competition and the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award at the 2019 Nonghyup Best Practice Competition, quickly rising to the ranks of nationally recognized brand rice within a short period.

It has also been recognized by consumers for its quality and safety, showing excellent sales performance. All production from 2016 to 2018 was sold out, and sales of the 2019 crop are progressing smoothly.

A county official stated, “We will do our best to manage quality in cooperation with Seokgok Nonghyup so that Baeksemi can establish itself as a national brand rice beyond Jeonnam.”

Meanwhile, Gokseong-gun and Seokgok Nonghyup are conducting various events to show appreciation for the love of Baeksemi. Currently, to commemorate Family Month in May, they are running an event to provide a <88 Healthy Agricultural Products> gift set consisting of 8 kg of Baeksemi and 800 g of Altoran to seniors who turned 100 years old this year (born in 1921).

Applications (including family members) can be submitted on the Seokgok Nonghyup website until July 31, and selected recipients will receive the gift set by courier in August.

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