This Year, Rice Cultivation Area to Decrease by 26,000 ha... Expansion of Strategic Crop Direct Payments and Other Measures Planned

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' Rice Appropriate Production Measures
Appropriate Paddy Cultivation Area 699,000 ha
Strategic Crop Direct Payment Support Items Expanded from 'Paddy Soybean' to 'All Legumes'

The government has decided to reduce the rice cultivation area by 26,000 hectares by expanding the 'Strategic Crop Direct Payment System,' which provides subsidies to farmers who cultivate so-called strategic crops such as beans and rice flour instead of rice in paddy fields, to stabilize rice supply and demand in 2024.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 7th that it has established and will implement a 'Rice Appropriate Production Plan' containing these measures.

Since early last month, the ministry finalized the plan after collecting opinions and making adjustments with local governments, the Rural Development Administration, NongHyup, and rice producer organizations. Through this plan, it intends to make every effort to adjust the rice cultivation area to stabilize the supply and demand and prices of the 2024 rice crop.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, "We set the appropriate rice cultivation area for this year at 699,000 hectares and established a goal to reduce it by 26,000 hectares, considering the rice re-cultivation area (10,000 hectares) and yield variables (7,000 hectares). We plan to achieve the target area by reducing 15,100 hectares through the Strategic Crop Direct Payment System, 1,000 hectares through local governments’ own budgets and rice cultivation reduction agreements, 2,500 hectares by cultivating other crops on newly secured farmland in the Farmland Bank, and 7,400 hectares through farmland conversion and other means."

In particular, the support target for the Strategic Crop Direct Payment System has been expanded from paddy field beans to all legumes, including peas, mung beans, cowpeas, and red beans, and corn has been newly added. The support unit price for legumes and rice flour has been increased by 1 million KRW per hectare from 1 million KRW to 2 million KRW, and the support area has also been expanded. This aims to proactively reduce the rice cultivation area, induce appropriate rice production, and achieve a twofold effect of stabilizing rice prices and reducing market isolation costs.

Choi Myung-cheol, Director of Food Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "To resolve the structural surplus in the rice market and stabilize rice prices during the harvest season, it is necessary to adjust the rice cultivation area to a certain level and minimize rice re-cultivation. Therefore, we will strengthen proactive supply and demand management with farmers, local governments, NongHyup, and the Rural Development Administration. We ask for the active interest and participation of rice farmers and producer organizations."

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