Goheung-gun Secures 2.1 Billion Won for 'High-Quality Rice Support Project' Contest

Heungyang Nonghyup PRC Rice Purchase and Storage Facility Expansion to Promote Premium Quality of Goheung Rice

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 31st that it has secured a total project fund of 2.1 billion KRW in the high-quality rice distribution activation contest hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The secured project will install facilities including two 30-ton dryers, one 6-ton dried rice tank, three 500-ton silos, and two 660㎡ cold storage warehouses over two years from 2021 to 2022.

The purpose of this project is to modernize rice processing facilities and expand drying and storage facilities to cultivate representative brands for each production and distribution hub of Goheung rice, and to produce high-quality rice by establishing an integrated system covering rice production, drying, storage, processing, and distribution.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' high-quality rice distribution activation support project was open nationwide, and after reviewing basic requirements, a fair and objective evaluation was conducted by five industry-academia-research experts through a three-stage process (document review, on-site inspection, and presentation), assessing detailed implementation plans, project scale and appropriate budget calculations, and preliminary preparations before final approval.

Cho Seong-moon, head of Heungyang Nonghyup, said, "With the selection in this contest, we purchased 9,200 tons of rough rice last year, processed and sold 8,700 tons of rice, achieving sales of 14.6 billion KRW," and expressed confidence by adding, "With the expansion of rice storage and drying facilities, it will be possible to purchase more than 10,000 tons next year."

The county expects that the selection in the contest will strengthen the expansion of offline supply of eco-friendly rice for school meals in major cities such as Seoul (from 30 schools to 50 schools) and the establishment of online sales channels such as home shopping.

A county official stated, "This will minimize farmers' inconvenience caused by delayed purchases due to flood shipments during the rice harvest season and long-distance transportation, and prevent deterioration of rice quality caused by outdoor storage due to insufficient warehouse space."

He added, "Reflecting the difficulties faced by Heungyang Nonghyup, we have supported 450 million KRW for the dust collection facility renovation project and 1.94 billion KRW for remodeling of the Rice Processing Complex (RPC) to overcome the evaluation failure caused by facility aging during on-site evaluations by the metropolitan school meal supply committee."

Meanwhile, the county invested 2 billion KRW in the rice drying and storage silo (DSC) support project for Duwon Nonghyup (head Shin Seonsik), expanding facilities including three 90-ton dryers, three 500-ton storage silos, and a 30-ton raw material input facility.

As a result, it is expected that farmers' inconvenience caused by lack of purchase locations and storage facilities leading to long-distance transportation during the harvest season will be significantly alleviated starting this year.

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