Emphasizing Food Sovereignty and Protection of the Agricultural Ecosystem
Kim Moonsu, a member of the South Jeolla Provincial Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Shinan 1), urged the government to withdraw its plan to reduce rice cultivation areas by 80,000 hectares during the 387th extraordinary session on the 5th.
Kim stated, "The government's 'Rice Industry Structural Reform Plan' announced last year, which aims to reduce rice cultivation areas by 80,000 hectares through the 'Rice Cultivation Area Adjustment System,' is a very biased and unreasonable measure." He pointed out, "The government's rice cultivation area adjustment system targets more than 10% of all paddy fields, which is an enormous scale equivalent to 276 times the size of Yeouido."
He further criticized, "The measure of imposing the obligation to reduce public rice reserve allocations on local governments is an act of the government exerting administrative power to pressure local governments and indirectly intimidate farmers and fishermen."
He called on the government to: ▲immediately withdraw the rice cultivation area reduction plan ▲protect farmers' cultivation rights ▲guarantee the income of small and medium-sized farmers with less than 2 hectares ▲guarantee a rice price of 230,000 won. He also urged the establishment of sustainable agricultural policies to respond to climate change and the presentation of a long-term roadmap to improve food self-sufficiency rates.
Kim emphasized, "This year, the rice cultivation area has already decreased by 1.5% compared to the previous year, down to 698,000 hectares. If an additional 80,000 hectares are reduced, it will severely impact farm household incomes." He added, "A policy to reduce rice, which is the staple food of the people and a core resource for national food security, will have a negative impact on the entire agricultural ecosystem."
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