The acreage of rice paddies in Korea continued to shrink this year as demand declined and farmers tended to grow more profitable crops, a government report showed Wednesday.
The size of rice paddies came to 849,172 hectares this year, down 0.5 percent from 853,823 hectares a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea.
This compared with about 1 million hectares of rice paddies tallied a decade ago, the report showed.
The decline is attributable to falling demand for rice, shrinking farmland caused by construction and farmers preferring to grow more profitable crops, the report said.
The latest figure is in line with a recent report by the agriculture ministry that the number of rice growing households in South Korea dropped 3.5 percent on-year in 2011.
The shrinkage stemmed mostly from falling per-capita rice consumption among Korean people, which dropped to 69.8 kilograms last year. This marked the first time that the amount has fallen below the 70-kilogram mark.
Rice remains as one of South Koreans' main staple crops, but its demand has been on the decline over the past decade as a growing number of people opt for westernized foods and other alternative diets for their daily meals. (Yonhap)