Farmers troubled by good rice harvest

By Yoon Ja-young

A good harvest is the dream of every farmer, but it doesn’t seem to be working out that way with farmers in Korea. Concern is increasing among farmers as rice production hits a six-year high thanks to good weather.

According to Statistics Korea, rice production totaled 4.33 million tons this year, which is up 2 percent compared with last year and the biggest since 2009.

However, farmers aren’t happy. Rice is currently trading at around 140,000 won per 80 kilograms at paddies, dropping 10 percent down from the last year.

The country’s rice paddies have been decreasing as more paddies are redeveloped for housing or farmers switch to other crops. The country’s rice paddies totaled 799,000 hectares this year, down 2 percent from last year and dropping more than 10 percent compared with a decade ago.

Rice consumption, however, contracted even further. Koreans consumed on average 65.1 kilograms of rice last year, down 19.3 percent from 2005. More people are turning to other crops as well as increasing bread, noodles and meat in their diet.

As a result, the rick stock is piling up, incurring huge costs. The country is expected to have 1.35 million tons of rice in stock this year. According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI), it costs 31.6 billion won a year to keep 100,000 tons of rice in stock. This includes storage and financial costs as well as the fall in the value of rice.

The government has been focusing on promoting rice consumption, developing diverse processed food products using rice.

Some suggest giving rice to North Korea or other underdeveloped countries as a solution.

In 2003, for instance, Seoul sent 400,000 tons of rice to North Korea. Rice stock fell from 1.45 million tons to 924,000 tons the following year. The country could maintain the rice in stock at between 600,000 and 800,000 tons for the next few years by continuing the donation.

Kim Tae-hun, a KREI researcher, said the government could consider this as an option. “The offering of rice to North Korea has been determined by the political situation,” he said. “As relations improve between the two countries, there is the possibility that North Korea may demand support anytime when the time is ripe.”

He said the government should set a fundamental solution to deal with the rice surplus. “On the supply side, the government should reconsider policies that trigger production of rice,” he said. “The policies to promote rice consumption, on the other hand, should continue from a mid- to long-term perspective.”