Korean Agriculture

Non-competitive structure Compared with the industrial sector, KOREAN agriculture is less developed, with small farms , aged farm population, low productivity, and underdeveloped marketing structure. Therefore, the agricultural sector is highly dependent on government support and intervention. Rice intensive Rice is the dominant crop, accounting for about 31 percent of the total agricultural production value, and 51 percent of the total area cultivated in 1996. Rice consumption per capita, at around 120.4kg in 1997, has fallen from its peak of 136…

…faced with the difficulties of adjusting to market opening, a rapid decrease in and aging of the agricultural labor force, frequent natural disaster and price fluctuation. A series of agricultural policy reform is aimed at preparing the sector to compete in world markets and to proceed to a more advanced sector. This and other changes mean that the Korean agriculture sector is in transition and it is becoming more market-oriented, although the pace is gradual.