South Korea’s rice production is expected to decline 3.5 percent this year due to typhoons that devastated farmland across the country, the government said.

According to projections by Statistics Korea, South Korea’s rice production will amount to 4.07 million tons this year compared with last year’s 4.22 million tons, becoming the lowest since 1980 when rice production plunged to 3.55 million tons affected by relatively cold weather conditions during the growing season.

Arable rice paddies fell 0.5 percent on-year to 849,000 hectares and the average rice production for a 10-acre paddy is also projected to shrink 3 percent to 481 kilograms this year from last year’s 496 kilograms. 

(Yonhap News)