'1.5%' Wheat Self-Sufficiency Rate to Be Raised to 8% by 2030... "Establishing a High-Quality Wheat Production and Distribution System"

Ministry Announces 2nd Basic Plan for Wheat Industry Promotion (2026–2030)

Stimulating Demand for Domestic Wheat Through Stable Supply

Expansion of "Domestic Wheat Day" Targeting Major Bulk Buyers

The government has announced plans to raise the wheat self-sufficiency rate, which stood at just 1.5% in 2024, to around 8% by 2030. The aim is to establish a high-quality wheat production and distribution system to stimulate demand for domestically grown wheat.

On March 26, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the "2nd Basic Plan for Wheat Industry Promotion (2026–2030)," which outlines these objectives.

The Ministry enacted the Wheat Industry Promotion Act in 2019 and established the 1st Basic Plan for Wheat Industry Promotion (2021–2025) in 2020. A Ministry official stated, "During this period, the wheat cultivation area expanded from 5,200 hectares in 2020 to 9,100 hectares in 2025, a 1.7-fold increase, while the number of wheat farming enterprises grew from 3,010 to 5,657, a 1.9-fold increase. These figures demonstrate achievements in strengthening the production base." The official added, "However, there have been issues with supplying wheat of consistent quality as demanded by consumers, so increased production has not been matched by increased demand."

Since February last year, the Ministry has gathered input from producers, industry stakeholders, and local government officials. From November, it organized expert working groups covering production, distribution, and consumption sectors to collect feedback from producers, processors, and academia, which formed the basis for this new plan.

The core direction of the 2nd Basic Plan is to establish a production and distribution system that delivers wheat of consistently high quality, as required by consumers, thereby ensuring a stable market supply and generating new demand for domestic wheat. The Ministry has set a goal of expanding the cultivation area to 50,000 hectares and production volume to 200,000 tons by 2030, raising the self-sufficiency rate (excluding feed consumption) to 8%. As of 2024, the wheat self-sufficiency rate is only 1.5%.

◆ Establishing an Efficient Production System Based on Demand = The first plan focused on securing a production base by fostering specialized wheat production complexes, evaluating them primarily on size and training/consulting implementation rates. However, it was noted that this approach lacked incentives for producing high-quality wheat. Going forward, evaluation criteria will be revised to emphasize the rate of Grade 1 wheat production and consistency of quality. Government support for facilities, equipment, and public wheat reserves will be preferentially allocated to outstanding complexes that produce high-quality wheat.

Additionally, on-site consulting will be made mandatory to enhance cultivation capabilities. Each year, tailored cultivation manuals reflecting the specific climate and soil conditions of each complex will be distributed to ensure that consulting translates into improved farming skills for wheat producers.

To encourage farms to cultivate varieties in high market demand, the government will lower the distribution price of bread wheat seeds and introduce differential purchase prices for government wheat reserves. In response to climate change, the Ministry will continue to develop and disseminate climate-adaptive cultivation technologies and promote demand-driven research and development (R&D), such as developing varieties with strong processing suitability as required by consumers.

◆ Promotion of High-Quality Wheat Distribution = In order to vitalize the distribution of high-quality wheat, the Ministry will focus support on blending facilities capable of supplying wheat with consistent quality to major bulk buyers, thus building a robust high-quality wheat distribution system. This move addresses concerns that, until now, processors and food companies have been reluctant to increase usage due to quality inconsistencies in domestic wheat by region and farm.

The government will also improve the wheat reserve system to support expanded wheat production by farmers and ensure a stable year-round supply of domestic wheat. The differential purchase price by quality will be increased, and allocation criteria will be expanded to include not only cultivation area but also the quantity of high-quality wheat produced and the consistency of quality, thereby incentivizing farmers to produce and distribute high-quality wheat. Since the introduction of the reserve system in 2019, government wheat reserves have been supplied to the private market at a uniform discount after two years of storage. Going forward, wheat will be supplied to actual users after just one year of storage, with variable discounts based on purpose and quality, thereby increasing consumer choice and reducing management costs.

In particular, low-grade wheat will be separated from the general processing market and supplied only to specialized markets (e.g., for alcohol production), thereby increasing the share of high-quality wheat in the distribution network. Additionally, reserved wheat will be provided for R&D in new materials and industries (such as pet food and K-beauty), and support will be given for commercialization, facilitating the creation of new markets utilizing domestic wheat.

◆ Enhanced Targeted Promotion to Expand Demand for 'Domestic Wheat' = Previously, promotional activities focused on one-off events to stimulate consumption, which failed to translate into sustained demand for domestic wheat products. Moving forward, the Ministry will clarify target demographics and buyers for promotion, employ tailored promotional strategies, and link these efforts with public food service and government/local government food programs to ensure continuity and effectiveness.

To this end, the Ministry will first expand the "Domestic Wheat Day" program, which has been run for institutional cafeterias, to reach a broader consumer base and identify new large-scale buyers. Consumer responses will be closely analyzed, and connections will be made with the development of group meal products and menus to further expand the meal and snack market.

In addition, the Ministry will actively expand supply of domestic wheat products and run consumption culture campaigns in connection with central government food programs, such as eco-friendly support for pregnant women, the agri-food voucher program, and local government-led food campaigns.

Support for processors using domestic wheat will also be expanded. To encourage new companies to switch from imported to domestic wheat, the Ministry will relax eligibility requirements for contract cultivation support and raise the cap on flour milling cost support. The Ministry expects these measures will significantly help processors who previously hesitated to use domestic wheat by alleviating the related business burden and thereby increasing the volume of domestic wheat used by processors.

Policy chief Park Junghoon of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "This basic plan is significant in that not only the government, but also farmers, processors, and academia have come together to recognize the necessity of demand-driven production and search for solutions. We will actively pursue key initiatives such as building an efficient production system based on demand, vitalizing high-quality wheat distribution, and fostering a consumption culture so that the wheat industry can achieve new growth and development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.