2020 Gokseong-gun Baeksemi Rice 'First Harvest'

Famous Nationwide for Its Savory Nurungji Aroma

Ryu Geun-gi, the mayor of Gokseong County, is demonstrating rice harvesting while riding a combine. Photo by Gokseong County

[Gokseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] On the 14th, Mr. Shintaegyun's farm located in Pyeong-ri, Moksadong-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, harvested this year's first Baeksemi rice.

Baeksemi is Gokseong-gun's eco-friendly brand rice. It is especially famous nationwide for its savory nurungji (scorched rice) aroma.

It won the Speaker of the National Assembly Award at the National Eco-friendly Agricultural Products Competition in 2017, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award in 2018, and was selected as one of Jeonnam's top 10 brand rices in 2020, recording sold-out cases every year.

In Gokseong-gun, Baeksemi is cultivated on an area of 200 hectares using eco-friendly farming methods. Seokgok Nonghyup manages everything from supplying high-quality seeds, seedling cultivation, pest control, harvesting, and milling through contract farming. It is sold through 16 Shinsegae Department Store branches nationwide and online, and recently opened export channels to China. It is also popular as a gift during holidays due to its various small packaging options.

To celebrate this year's first harvest, Governor Yoo personally boarded the combine harvester and participated in a rice cutting demonstration, sharing the joy.

A county official stated, “We will strive for quality control and distribution so that many people can enjoy Baeksemi on their tables.”

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