Rice production in South Korea hits 37-year low in 2017.

Rice production in South Korea hit the lowest in 37 years this year on a continued fall in rice growing area. Rice production stood at 3,972,000 tons this year, down 5.3 percent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. It was the lowest since 3.55 million tons of rice was produced in 1980. It was attributable to the continued decline in the rice cultivation area, which fell from 778,734 hectares in 2016 to 754,713 hectares in 2017. The government also encouraged farmers to cultivate a proper amount of rice to help farmers sell rice at a proper price.