Statistics Korea This year's rice cultivation area is tentatively estimated to be 677,597 hectares, a decrease of 21,116 hectares from last year's 697,713 hectares. According to the "2025 Rice Cultivation Area Survey Preliminary Results" released by Statistics Korea on the 28th of last month, this year's rice cultivation area is 677,597 hectares, a 2.9% decrease from the previous year. Paddy rice cultivation area decreased by 21,180 hectares to 677,504 hectares compared to last year, while upland rice cultivation area increased by 92 hectares to 63 hectares. This decrease in cultivation area is attributed to the implementation of measures such as the Direct Payment for Strategic Crops and the Paddy Field Crop Cultivation Support Project, which are aimed at balancing rice supply and demand. By province, Jeollanam-do had the largest area at 142,443 hectares, followed by Chungcheongnam-do at 125,276 hectares, Jeollabuk-do at 107,190 hectares, Gyeongsangbuk-do at 86,662 hectares, ...