Text Fwd: New rice policy falls short for rice farmers

'Some 500 farmers from the National Federation of Farmers’ Associations holds a rally outside Nonsan City Hall in South Chungcheong Province, calling for a solution to hold up the rice price and resumption of rice aid to North Korea, Aug. 31. (Photo by Kim Myung-Jin)'

Hankyoreh
New rice policy falls short for rice farmers : Farmers and civic organizations have pushed the Lee administration to resume rice aid to N.Korea to reduce overflowing stores
By Kim Hyun-dai, Senior Staff writer
Posted on : Sep.1,2010 16:02 KST

On Aug. 31, the Lee Myung-bak administration announced its new rice policy. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) announced its plans to purchase and totally isolate 500 thousand tons of rice from the market. This move has been viewed as the strongest prescription to date. However, rice aid to North Korea was omitted from the plan and the response from farming groups has not been positive. It also remains unclear whether the measures will pull rice prices up.

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Experts and farmers’ groups evaluating the Lee administration’s active market isolation measures indicated that they were insufficient for stabilizing the rice market.

“Isolating surplus rice is not enough, and measures to use it up are also needed,” said Lee Jeong-hwan, head of agricultural research institute GSnJ. “The 60 trillion Won in agricultural goods purchased every year by the U.S. government are not kept in warehouses, but used to support people on low incomes or for school lunches.”

Hong Joon-geun, chairman of a rice association, said, “Measures are needed such as processing the rice into flour and exporting or sending it to North Korea, or sending the rice itself overseas.”

Lee Chang-han, in charge of policy at a national alliance of farmers, said, “The measures lacked core elements such as rice aid to North Korea.”

With regard to rice aid to North Korea, MIFAFF Minister Yoo Jeong-bok said, “Rice aid alone is not valid as aid to North Korea, and the issue is one that must be comprehensively examined by the government.”

On the afternoon of Aug. 31, more than 500 farmers from the National Federation of Farmers' Associations held a rally outside Nonsan City Hall in South Chungcheong Province, calling for a solution to the rice crisis. They demanded that the government solve the crisis by resuming rice aid shipments to North Korea.

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