South Korea's rice production drops nearly 2% in 2023

South Korea's rice production fell 1.6% in 2023 from the previous year as the government introduced incentives to reduce traditional rice plantings, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The total final production was estimated at 3.702 million tons of milled rice. The area under rice fell by 2.6% compared to the previous year. According to FAS, the Korean government sought to reduce planting area to reduce the rice glut. It has given priority to converting high-yielding rice varieties into higher quality varieties with superior taste. The government also encouraged increased production of rice for flour through new subsidies and support for the development of new products. “The recent discovery that flour rice can reduce methane emissions ...