Temperature Below Freezing but Already Rice Transplanting? ... First Nationwide Rice Planting Today in Icheon

Cultivating Rice in a Greenhouse Using Heat from a Resource Recovery Facility
Kim Kyung-hee, Mayor of Icheon: "With Pride in Imgeumnam Pyo Icheon Rice"

Minus 7 degrees Celsius. This was the lowest temperature in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 13th. Although the cold wave has temporarily subsided, the chilly winter weather continues.

Meanwhile, an early 'rice planting' took place in a paddy field in Hobeop-myeon, Icheon-si. This was the first rice planting conducted nationwide this year.

Kim Kyung-hee (sixth from the left), Mayor of Icheon City, is planting rice seedlings with the local agricultural cooperative and farmers at the first nationwide rice planting event of the year held in Anpyeong 3-ri, Hobeop-myeon. Provided by Icheon City

The rice planting event, sponsored by Icheon-si and organized by the local agricultural cooperative, was held in a 990㎡ linked greenhouse in Anpyeong 3-ri, Hobeop-myeon. A linked greenhouse refers to multiple vinyl greenhouses connected together with internal partitions removed.

The seedlings are an early-maturing domestic variety. To prepare for this, the city and Hobeop Agricultural Cooperative soaked the rice seeds on the 13th of last month and sowed the seedlings on the 17th of the same month. The expected harvest time is June.

The reason rice planting was possible despite the cold is that heat generated from a nearby large-scale resource recovery facility was used to maintain the temperature inside the rice cultivation house at 20 degrees Celsius, creating an optimal environment. The planted rice will be grown using eco-friendly pesticide-free cultivation methods.

Mayor Kim Kyung-hee of Icheon also participated in the rice planting on this day. Mayor Kim stated, "This rice planting embodies the pride of 'Imgeumnam Pyo Icheon Rice,' a brand recognized for its value and exported overseas," adding, "We plan to do our best to continuously improve the quality of Icheon rice."