Icheon City Honors Hyeon Ung-jo, Key Developer of 'Alchanmi' Rice, as Honorary Citizen

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Eom In-yong] Icheon City announced on the 12th that it presented an honorary citizenship plaque and certificate to Hyeon Ung-jo, agricultural researcher at the National Institute of Crop Science, at an awards ceremony held at the '2025 Royal Icheon Rice Master Selection Competition' held recently at the Icheon Agriculture Theme Park's Icheon Rice Culture Festival venue.

Researcher Hyeon Ung-jo oversees the development of rice varieties for the central-northern region and was a key figure in developing 'Alchanmi,' a domestically cultivated rice variety, through joint research with Icheon City. He was recognized for his contributions to Korea's independence in domestic rice varieties and the enhancement of regional agricultural competitiveness.

'Alchanmi' received excellent evaluations in taste, quality, and cultivation stability, and won the top prize at the 2025 'Consumer-Preferred High-Quality Rice Variety Evaluation' hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Since 2016, the city has promoted demand-driven rice variety development and variety replacement projects in cooperation with the National Institute of Crop Science under the Rural Development Administration and the Icheon City Branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. As a result, starting in 2021, foreign varieties Koshihikari and Chucheong were completely replaced with domestically cultivated varieties 'Hadle' and 'Alchanmi,' realizing seed independence.

Researcher Hyeon Ung-jo said, "I am pleased that the research conducted with Icheon City has contributed to the development of Korea's rice industry, and I will continue to make efforts so that Icheon's high-quality rice can grow into a world-class brand."

Mayor Kim Gyeong-hee said, "Researcher Hyeon Ung-jo played a major role in enhancing the competitiveness of Icheon rice and laying the foundation for Korea's independence in domestic rice varieties," and added, "I hope you will continue to be a steadfast partner in the development of Icheon agriculture as an honorary citizen."