Gyeonggi Province to Invest 55 Billion Won to Achieve Rice Production Target This Year

Gyeonggi Province has set this year's rice production target at 410,000 tons and announced on the 31st that it will operate a situation room for stable rice production measures from April to achieve the goal. The 410,000-ton target represents a 0.7% increase compared to last year's rice production of 407,000 tons.

Accordingly, the province plans to invest a total of 55.08 billion won across 10 projects spanning from production to processing and distribution management, including ▲expanded support for essential agricultural materials such as eco-friendly soil amendments ▲fostering field-based management entities and operating agricultural machinery rental centers to reduce labor ▲modernizing facilities at comprehensive rice processing facilities for post-harvest management and safe processing ▲enhancing the Gyeonggi rice brand and implementing measures to prevent illegal distribution.

To reduce production costs and produce high-quality rice, the province will intensively foster field-based management entities by investing 343 million won, focusing on consolidated paddies of 50 hectares or larger.

The field-based management entities are scheduled to be established in 8 districts across 3 municipalities including Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, and Anseong, and will conduct collective work including management consulting, seedling cultivation, transplanting, cultivation management, and pest control, while also providing equipment needed for joint operations such as wide-area spraying machines.

The province will also promote a joint agricultural machinery rental business for farmers who have difficulty purchasing farm equipment. The province plans to support 2 billion won this year to operate agricultural machinery rental centers in Hwaseong City and Yeoncheon County.

The joint rental centers will provide agricultural machinery such as tractors, combines, rice transplanters, and seeders at affordable rental rates around 10,000 won per day. Last year, approximately 11,360 farms in the province used rental agricultural machinery.

In the distribution stage, the province will jointly conduct crackdowns with NGOs to prevent illegally distributing other regions' rice under the Gyeonggi brand or selling mixed rice. In addition, a reward system for reporting illegal distribution will be operated, offering reward money of up to 5 million won to informants.

The 410,000-ton target represents 10% of this year's domestic production goal of 4.15 million tons.