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the midst of a rivalry between the opposition and the opposition over the grain management law that the Democratic Party independently passed the National Assembly Standing Committee, President Yoon Seok-yeol suggested yesterday (20th) that he could veto the bill if it was passed.
Reporter Lee Yong-shik covered the issue of overproduction of rice, to what extent and to what extent the issue of the law is controversial.
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Although they are harvesting ripe rice after enduring drought and rain and wind, the faces of the farmers are not bright.
[Lee Gil-joo/Farmer: I am not currently trying to farm.
Because no one guarantees the price of rice.]
This year's rice production was 3804,000 tons, 80,000 tons less than last year, but 248,000 tons more than the market demand.
Due to the drop in rice prices due to overproduction, the government decided to purchase 450,000 tons of rice last month for market isolation, and 100,000 tons more than last year for public stockpiled rice.
Market quarantine rice purchased by the government since 2005 when the public stockpile system was introduced has reached 2982,000 tons this year over 10 years.
The core of the 'Grain Management Act' is to change the market quarantine measure, which was a voluntary clause, into a mandatory clause.
If the excess rice production is more than 3% or the price falls by more than 5%, the government must unconditionally buy the surplus rice.
The ruling party opposes this law, saying that overproduction of rice will become more severe and 1.08 trillion won will be spent on mandatory purchases in 2026.
[Han Se-ho/Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Chungnam National University: There is a limit to increasing demand anyway, and the most important key thing is to reduce the cultivation area.]
If you grow powdered rice or soybeans instead of rice, direct payment is paid from next year, but measures to induce alternative crops It is pointed out that this needs to be strengthened.