S. Korea's rice production to increase 4.7 pct this year

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rice production is expected to increase 4.7 percent to 4.62 million tons this year thanks to ideal weather conditions, the government said Thursday.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) said the total is noteworthy since there
was a 1.5 percent dip in the size of rice paddies in the country that had
previously stood at 936,000 hectares.
This translates into 495 kilograms of rice being produced per 10 ares of land, up
from 466 kilograms for 2007.
It also said the total that is expected to be harvested represents a 2.5 percent
increase compared to the annual average tallied for the past five years.
By region South Jeolla Province produced 867,000 tons of rice, followed by
863,000 tons for South Chungcheong Province and 722,000 tons for North Jeolla
Province.