SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Rice production in South Korea hit the lowest in 38 years this year on the reduced area for rice paddies and bad weather conditions, a government report showed Tuesday.
The estimated rice output for 2018 was 3,868,000 tons, according to Statistics Korea. It was down 2.6 percent from 3,972,000 tons tallied in 2017, marking the lowest since 1980 when the rice production was 3.55 million tons.
The country's rice output kept falling for the third consecutive year as the area for rice paddies continued to decline.
The size of rice paddies totaled 737,673 hectares nationwide this year, down 2.3 percent from the previous year.
The scorching heatwave in the summer contributed to the reduced rice output, together with the rising moves to use rice paddies for other crops.
Amid the falling rice output, price for the staple grain kept rising. The average wholesale price for rice jumped 29 percent for the past year.
As people's tastes got increasingly Westernized, rice consumption continued to fall. The rice consumption per capital fell 0.2 percent over the year to 61.8 kg in 2017.
