The Examination of the Main Economic Indicators of the South Korean Rice Sector

Erdeiné Késmárki-Gally, Szilvia – Neszmélyi, György Iván

Keywords: South Korea, agricultural economy, consumption, rice production, O13, Q13, Q17

Rice has been the main agricultural crop in Korea for centuries and also it is at centre of the agricultural policy. The latter went through certain changes during the recent few decades. The South Korean rice production decreased considerably due to various reasons, such as the shrinking size of the arable lands, the changes in the food consumption habits that mitigated the demand for rice, and also to the changes in the subsidy system. In spite of all this, the productivity of the Korean rice production has developed moreover they use less agricultural chemicals and optimizing the use of agricultural machinery. Even though there are regional differences countrywide, the average yields show growing trend. In parallel with the increasing yields and the shrinking consumption the government re-evaluated its policy and instead of supporting the quantity growth, they put the new focus on the quality-oriented production. The government’s subsidies to rice producers are now basically income-subsidies; however there are still certain instruments that are directly connected to the production.

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