Enhancing Quality Competitiveness of Gumi Rice and Presenting a New Vision for the Wheat Industry
Transforming into a Large-scale, Digital, and Smart Advanced Agricultural City
On the 5th, Kim Jang-ho, Mayor of Gumi City, received the ‘Agricultural Development Innovation Award’ presented by the headquarters of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.
Kim Jang-ho, Mayor of Gumi, who received the 'Agricultural Development Innovation Award'. Provided by Gumi City
The Agricultural Development Innovation Award is an honor given to local government heads who have contributed to agricultural support policies, increased farm income, and rural development. This year, eight local government heads, including Mayor Kim, were selected.
Since the launch of the 8th term of the civilian government, Mayor Kim has shown special affection for agricultural and rural development, allocating 10% of the total budget (151.3 billion KRW in 2024) to the agricultural budget. In addition, by securing additional resources through public projects such as the ‘Rural Agreement’ and the ‘Multipurpose Rural Water Development Project,’ he has established an investment base of 200 billion KRW in the agricultural sector.
In May of this year, the advanced ‘Integrated RPC Construction Project’ was completed, establishing a high-quality rice production system capable of producing up to 20,000 tons annually, significantly enhancing the quality and distribution competitiveness of Gumi rice. Furthermore, he is actively promoting distribution channel development and global market entry by supplying large quantities of rice to ‘Olgot,’ a frozen gimbap manufacturer that started in Gumi and is driving the Kyochon Chicken and K-Food craze.
In particular, to improve the reality where the self-sufficiency rate of domestic wheat is only in the 1% range, Mayor Kim established the ‘Wheat Industry Valley Deulnyeok Special Zone.’ For the first time in the province, a wheat milling facility was opened, and by collaborating with local bakeries, healthy Korean wheat bread was developed, building a corporate-type model covering the entire process from production to processing and distribution. At the same time, a large-scale wheat production complex is being created, positioning the area as the center of domestic wheat cultivation.
Additionally, in preparation for the upcoming new airport era, he is promoting the ‘Food Cluster Development Project,’ which combines food manufacturing with advanced technology, and is planning the ‘Digital Innovation Agricultural Town Development’ for joint farming, presenting a future-oriented agricultural model.
Alongside this, to overcome climate change and the aging farming population, projects such as ‘Cultivating 1,000 Young Farmers,’ ‘Establishing a Subtropical Crop Specialized Complex,’ and ‘Supporting the Development of Alternative Fruit Tree Varieties’ are being carried out to create a sustainable rural environment.
In his acceptance speech, Mayor Kim Jang-ho stated, “Through the scaling, digitalization, and smartization of agriculture, we will make Gumi an advanced agricultural city, open global markets for local agricultural products, and increase farm income,” expressing his vision that “a truly advanced country is one where rural areas prosper.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
