Jeong Hwang-geun "Oppose Amendment to Grain Management Act, Rice Oversupply Will Also Lower Prices"

Minister Jeong Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is delivering opening remarks at the party-government consultation meeting on the Grain Management Act held at the National Assembly on the 18th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporters Kim Hyewon and Lee Junhyung] Jeong Hwang-geun, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, reiterated his opposition on the 28th at the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, regarding the ruling by the opposition party alone to request the plenary session to deliberate the amendment to the Grain Management Act, stating, "It is very regrettable that only one-sided claims have been reflected."

Minister Jeong held a briefing at the Government Complex Sejong immediately after the committee’s resolution and said, "(The amendment to the Grain Management Act) will exacerbate the oversupply of rice and unnecessary fiscal burdens, and will rather lower rice prices, which will not help farmers."

The Korea Rural Economic Institute previously released an analysis showing that if the amendment is implemented, the excess supply of rice will increase from the current level of 200,000 tons to over 600,000 tons by 2030, and rice prices will fall by more than 8%, dropping to the low 170,000 KRW range per 80 kg.

Regarding the implementation of the amendment, Minister Jeong pointed out, "The fiscal burden from mandatory isolation will exceed 1 trillion KRW annually on average, causing the disappearance of enormous resources that should be invested in future agriculture," adding, "It is expected to be very difficult to secure budgets needed for the development of future agriculture such as nurturing young farmers and smart farming, as well as supporting healthy diets for vulnerable groups."

He also expressed concern, saying, "The rice that the public needs is already sufficiently self-supplied," and "We need to expand domestic production of crops with high import dependence such as wheat and soybeans, but this amendment will neither help food security nor improve self-sufficiency rates." He further added, "Support for other agricultural and livestock products will inevitably decrease," and "There will be increasing demands that are difficult to accept due to issues of fairness with other items."

Minister Jeong urged the National Assembly once again, saying, "The amendment to the Grain Management Act will nullify many efforts made to maintain and develop the rice industry," and "With the plenary session discussion approaching, I ask for careful and rational discussions on the amendment for the development of the rice industry and agriculture and rural areas."

The amendment to the Grain Management Act includes provisions requiring the government to compulsorily purchase surplus rice if the excess production exceeds 3% or prices fall by more than 5%. It also includes measures to provide financial support when crops other than rice are cultivated in paddy fields.

The Democratic Party supports the need for the amendment to prevent a collapse in rice prices, but the government and ruling party strongly oppose it, arguing that mandatory purchases will induce overproduction of rice and increase fiscal burdens. Additionally, 16 agricultural and livestock organizations have consecutively issued statements urging careful review of the amendment due to concerns about side effects if implemented.

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