Estimated Loss of 1.812 Trillion Won for Rice Farmers This Year... Seosamseok Urges Urgent Additional Quarantine of 500,000 Tons of Old and New Rice

"Price of One Bowl of Rice 204 Won, Production Cost 208 Won Not Recovered"
Production Costs Increased Year-on-Year... Vehicle Fuel Costs 100%, Paddy Drying Costs 75%, Labor Costs 50%, etc.
"President Must Step In to Implement Drastic Measures... Strongly Urging Again"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] There is a forecast that losses for rice farmers this year will reach around 1.8 trillion won due to the plummeting rice prices.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Seo Sam-seok, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 22nd, Seo Sam-seok, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee, announced that based on the '2022 Production Cost Survey Data' released by the National Rice Producers Association, losses could amount to approximately 164,750 won per 200-pyeong rice farm this year.

When converted using the 2022 rice cultivation area of 727,158 hectares announced by Statistics Korea, the total losses for all rice farmers are expected to reach about 1.812 trillion won.

Specifically, the production cost per 200 pyeong is 659,750 won, while the expected selling price for 11 bags of 40kg rice produced is only 495,000 won.

This calculation is based on the fact that the selling price per bag of early-maturing rice harvested at the end of August 2022 was about 50,000 won, and the price of mid-late maturing rice harvested in mid-October is generally about 5,000 won cheaper, thus estimating 45,000 won per bag.

The production cost announced by the association this year rose about 25% compared to last year's 529,500 won. Excluding self-labor costs, the largest increase was in vehicle fuel costs, which rose 100%, followed by rice drying costs at 75%, and both labor and rice transportation costs increased by 50%. Additionally, costs for agricultural machinery rental rose 38%, weeding and pest control 18%, and seedling transplantation services 17%, all showing increases.

Seo’s office pointed out that when converted to production cost per kilogram of rice based on the association’s data, 2,083 won was spent, whereas the rice price at production sites on the 15th was only 2,036 won per kilogram, resulting in a loss of 47 won. In other words, a 100g bowl of cooked rice is sold at a low price of 204 won, which does not even cover the input cost of 208 won.

Seo said, "Considering that rice farmers account for about half of the total, the severe income reduction caused by the rice price collapse could lead to the collapse of Korean agriculture and the disappearance of rural communities." He warned, "If the government does not change its perception of the rice issue from the market logic of price control, the serious crisis of domestic food self-sufficiency from a national security perspective will inevitably worsen."

He continued, "Although official government statistics on the 2022 rice production volume have not yet been released, according to estimates by the NongHyup, there are concerns about an oversupply of about 350,000 tons and an excess stockpile of 150,000 tons of old rice this year as well." He strongly urged once again that "the President take the lead in preparing extraordinary measures to resolve the rice issue, including additional urgent market isolation for a total of 500,000 tons of old and new rice."

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