Ulsan City Promotes Rice Cultivation Area Adjustment System

Strategic Crop Direct Payment Linked
Rice Cultivation Area to Decrease by 365 ha

Ulsan City will promote the application for strategic crop direct payments in conjunction with the rice cultivation area adjustment system to stabilize rice prices.

The strategic crop direct payment is a system that provides direct payments to farmers who cultivate strategic crops using paddy fields, aiming to improve farmers' income and increase the utilization rate of paddy fields.

For winter crops, applications can be submitted by March 31, and for summer crops by May 31, at the administrative welfare centers of the eup, myeon, and dong with the largest farmland area.

Among winter crops, wheat receives 1 million KRW per hectare, and food crops such as barley, oats, and rye receive 500,000 KRW per hectare. For summer crops, corn and sesame (both cham sesame and wild sesame) receive 1 million KRW per hectare, rice flour and legumes receive 2 million KRW per hectare, and forage crops receive 5 million KRW per hectare.

Additionally, if double cropping is done with winter wheat or forage crops and summer legumes or rice flour, an additional incentive of 1 million KRW per hectare is provided.

Along with this, Ulsan City will promote the rice cultivation area adjustment system to resolve the structural oversupply in the rice industry and stabilize rice prices.

To this end, Ulsan City has set a target to reduce rice cultivation area by 365 hectares this year, and detailed reduction types will be autonomously pursued according to the characteristics of each district, including strategic crops, conversion to eco-friendly certification, other crops, farmland conversion, and fallow land.

Also, a rice cultivation area adjustment support team will be established, involving districts (eup, myeon, dong), agricultural technology centers, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, and agricultural cooperatives, to promote projects, provide farmer education, and offer on-site technical support to encourage voluntary and active participation of farmers in achieving reduction targets and appropriate rice production.

In the future, districts with excellent rice cultivation area reduction performance will be given priority allocation benefits for public stockpiled rice, while underperforming districts will face reductions of up to 15%. Additionally, farmers will receive differentiated public stockpiled rice allocations based on their reduction performance.

An official from Ulsan City stated, “We expect this policy to contribute to resolving the oversupply of rice, ensuring stable income for farmers, and increasing food self-sufficiency,” and added, “We ask for farmers’ great interest and active participation.”