Boseong-gun Begins This Year's First Harvest of 'Ungchi Olbyeo Rice'

Published 22 Aug.2023 14:12(KST)

Registration of Agricultural Product Geographical Indication No. 71, Nationwide Brand Value Recognition

Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 21st that the harvest of early rice officially began this year as farmer Park Hwayoung from Jungsan-ri, Ungchi-myeon, harvested early rice for the first time.

Boseong Ungchi Early Rice was registered as Agricultural Product Geographical Indication No. 71 in 2010, gaining nationwide brand recognition.

[Photo by Boseong-gun]

In Boseong-gun, 120 farms (140ha) cultivate early rice, and it has a specialized early rice complex responsible for over 70% of the national production.

Boseong Ungchi Early Rice starts rice transplanting around April 15, about fifteen days earlier than other regions, and harvests only pure glutinous rice before full maturity. The harvested rice is processed using traditional milling methods by steaming it with steam in a cauldron and then drying it under the sun.

During the early Chuseok holiday, rice and rice cakes made from early rice were placed on ancestral ritual tables. Nowadays, it is highly regarded as a high-quality well-being food with excellent anti-cancer and diet effects, used in snacks and meal replacements.

Boseong-gun is promoting the popularization of early rice by implementing projects such as the ‘Ungchi Early Rice Food Processing Cluster (Cooperative Complex) Project,’ developing various products like scorched rice and snacks using early rice, and striving to increase early rice consumption and farmers’ income through promotional events in major cities.

Lee Hyungbok, head of Ungchi-myeon, said, “Despite difficult conditions such as the unusually long rainy season, heat waves, abnormal weather phenomena, and labor shortages, I thank the farmers who have quietly worked hard to produce early rice, and I hope this will be an opportunity to overcome difficult times with the joy of harvest.”

Meanwhile, Boseong Ungchi Early Rice and related products can be purchased at Boseong Mall, Boseong-gun’s online direct transaction market.