Cheongsong-gun Pursues Strategic Crops Instead of Rice... Aiming to Boost Farm Income and Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, is proactively implementing a rice cultivation area adjustment system to reduce the rice cultivation area and increase the self-sufficiency rate of food crops other than rice by cultivating strategic crops such as legumes on the reduced paddy fields.

Forage harvest. Provided by Cheongsong-gun

Additionally, by introducing crops that emit less greenhouse gases than paddy rice, the plan also aims to contribute to carbon neutrality policies.

Accordingly, this year, the goal is to reduce 94 hectares, which is 13% of the estimated 721 hectares of rice cultivation area in 2024, by encouraging farmers' participation and strengthening policy support.

The reduction types include ▲land conversion ▲cultivation of strategic or alternative crops ▲crop switching to orchards, and will be promoted according to local conditions.

The rice cultivation area adjustment system is implemented to resolve supply-demand imbalances caused by rice oversupply and sluggish consumption, and to prevent income reduction for farmers due to falling rice prices.

Furthermore, through the paddy field alternative crop cultivation support project, cultivation of legumes, corn, sesame, forage crops, etc., is encouraged instead of rice, with new fields receiving 1.5 million KRW per hectare and existing fields supported last year receiving 1 million KRW per hectare.

In addition, through the strategic crop direct payment project, farmers cultivating glutinous rice, legumes, corn, forage crops, sesame (perilla and sesame) in paddy fields will receive direct payments ranging from 1 million KRW to a maximum of 5 million KRW per hectare depending on the crop.

County Governor Yoon Kyung-hee emphasized, “This project is being promoted to solve the rice oversupply problem and increase farmers' income, while strengthening food security by raising the self-sufficiency rate of food crops other than rice,” and added, “We ask for the active participation of rice farmers.”