Rice output likely to fall sharply in South Korea

SEOUL (Commodity Online): Fast growing industrialization in South Korea is likely to its agriculture as country’s Rice production is likely to hit to ten year low this season.

According to Korea Rural Economic Institute, South Korea’s rice production is forecast to hit a 10-year low this year due to shrinking farm land and lower yields caused by unfavorable weather conditions.

Rice production is expected to reach 4.12-4.24 million tons this year, down 1.2-4.0 percent from the previous year’s harvest of 4.29 million tons.

This year’s harvest could hit the lowest amount in 10 years. Rice production has been on a decline since 2001 when it came to 5.51 million tons.

Heavy rains and other extreme weather conditions led to the shrinkage, it added. Declining farm land was also cited as a reason for the lower output.

The institute said that the final figure will hinge heavily on weather conditions until next month as sunlight exposure during that period determines about 74 percent of annual output.

A smaller harvest could Lead to a hike in the price of rice, a major staple grain for Koreans. Rice prices are closely monitored by the government which has been striving to keep inflation in check.

The government helps stabilize the price of rice here by purchasing and unloading the grain in the market. The agriculture ministry said that it plans to buy about 340,000 tons of rice harvested this year from Oct. 25 to Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, South Koreans’ per-capita daily rice consumption is expected to contract up to 2.2 percent on-year to 195.3-196.4 grams this year, the institute said. This represents an annual per-capita rice consumption of 71.2-71.6 kilograms, the lowest amount in history, it added.

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Rice-output-likely-to-fall-sharply-in-South-Korea-41993-3-1.html