Jeongeup City Council
(Jeongeup = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-cheol = On the 14th, Jeongeup City Council in North Jeolla Province urged the withdrawal of the government’s rice cultivation area adjustment policy, stating that “it causes economic losses for farmers along with income instability.”
The rice cultivation area adjustment policy requires all rice farming households to reduce their paddy field area by 10%.
The government plans to reduce the rice cultivation area by 80,000 hectares this year.
Through a written proposal, the city council pointed out, “The rice cultivation area adjustment policy forces rice farmers who receive basic subsidies to reduce a certain cultivation area, and those who comply receive preferential treatment in the allocation of public reserve rice.” However, they criticized it as a coercive and unilateral policy, stating that farmers who do not comply with the reduction obligation are excluded from the allocation.
Furthermore, they emphasized, “If farmers want to cultivate other crops, the initial burden is high, and securing stable marketing channels is difficult. Farmers are inevitably faced with economic losses and income instability.”
The city council also called for the expansion of rice consumption promotion policies, strengthening national responsibility for rice production adjustment and inventory management, and reflecting opinions from the agricultural field.
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