A combined 3,631,000 tons of rice, a key staple food for South Koreans, was expected to be produced in the country in 2020, according to Statistics Korea. It was down 3.0 percent from the previous year.
It would mark the lowest since 1980, keeping a downward trend for the fifth consecutive year.
The lower rice output was attributed to the prolonged rainy season and a set of typhoons as well as the continued fall in rice paddies.
The size of rice paddies across the country slipped 0.5 percent over the year to 726,432 hectares this year.
Consumption of rice in the country has been on the decline in recent decades owing to the change in eating habits.
Latest comments