Rice Output Drops To Lowest Level In Nearly 40 Years

South Korea's rice output fell to the lowest level in nearly 40 years in 2018 despite government efforts to tackle the years-long oversupply of the staple grain, data showed Tuesday.

SEJONG, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2018 ) :South Korea's rice output fell to the lowest level in nearly 40 years in 2018 despite government efforts to tackle the years-long oversupply of the staple grain, data showed Tuesday.

The country's rice production reached 3.86 million tons this year, down 2.6 percent from 3.97 million tons produced in 2017, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the smallest amount since 1980 when it hit 3.55 million tons. A total of 737,673 hectares of rice paddies was cultivated this year, down 2.3 percent from last year.

Bad weather conditions, combined with continued moves to use rice paddies for other crops, helped cut rice output and rice paddies, the statistics office said. The South Korean government has been pushing to control rice production in order to deal with a chronic glut of the grain as people's tastes become increasingly Westernized.

Per capita rice consumption in South Korea hit a fresh record low last year.

The average annual consumption of rice per person fell to 61.8 kilograms last year, down 0.2 percent from the previous year's 61.9 kg, the data showed.