South Korea’s rice output is expected to drop slightly in 2014 from last year because of reduced cultivation area but will still be more than enough to meet the country’s demand, the Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday.

The country’s rice output is forecast to reach some 4.18 million tons, down 1.1 percent from 4.23 million tons in 2013, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “Overall output is expected to slip 1.1 percent from that of last year as the total area under cultivation is forecast to drop 2.1 percent on-year to about 816,000 hectares, though the average yield from each unit area of 10 hectares is predicted to rise 1 percent to 513 kilograms,” the ministry said, citing related data from Statistics Korea.

Despite a drop in total output, the government plans to purchase and stockpile up to 400,000 tons of rice from this year to keep local prices up.

The ministry said this year’s harvest will be more than enough to meet the country’s overall demand for the new rice crop, which is expected to come to about 4 million tons, marking a 4.5 percent on-year drop. (Yonhap)