FARMERS DEMAND STABILITY IN RICE PRICES

[Anchor Lead]

The price of rice, the Korean people's staple food, is also in a flux, only in downward direction. The cost of fertilizers and farming materials is on the rise, but the price of rice recorded the largest fall in 45 years. Farmers in the Chungnam and Gyeongbuk regions bulldozed their rice fields ahead of harvest, demanding the government to guarantee stable rice price and inciting protests all over the nation.

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Tractors run over the harvest-ready rice plants. When the price of rice plummeted just before the harvest season, farmers had no choice but to turn over the rice fields with tractors. Farmers who had to bulldoze the equivalent of their earnest hardwork, couldn't stop their tears from rolling.

[Soundbite] "Guarantee farmers' rights!"

Such protests were carried out simultaneously in nine different cities and counties in Chungcheongnam-do Province.

[Soundbite] Park Dong-gyu(Chair of Nonsan chapter, Korean Peasants League) : "We gain nothing in return from farming. We have no solution even with all of the protests."

Last year, the local producers' rice price was on average around 54,000 won per 20 kilograms. But the price fell to roughly 41,000 won, recording the largest price drop in 45 years. In contrast, farming expenses such as the cost of oil and fertilizer soared, burdening farmers with even more worries.

[Soundbite] Lee Gyu-ho(Youth Committee Chair, Boryeong Farmers' Association) : "I don't know how I'm going to farm next year. I have more payments to make now that the interest rates have gone up."

Coffins representing the imperiled farming sector are brought in at a protest. Rice farmers in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region also urged the government to ensure stable prices by purchasing all stored rice and preemptively isolating the market for new harvest.

[Soundbite] Kim Tae-hyeon(Head, Gyeongbuk Farmers' Advocacy Group) : "Rice price plunged because its production was not managed and the central and local government failed to find fundamental solutions."

The price is expected to fall even further when the rice harvest season begins next month, prompting farmers' groups to arrange large-scale protests. Meanwhile, the government plans to announce a new plan to stabilize the price on September 25th and the National Assembly to table a revision of the Grain Management Act the following day.