SOUTH Korea, the world's third-largest corn importer, aims to boost the amount of grain including corn, rice and wheat that the nation either produces at home or controls overseas to secure supplies amid soaring prices.

The government wants to lift the so-called self-sufficiency ratio to 50 percent by 2030 from 26.5 percent, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday. Half the target, which includes food and feed use, would be met locally and the rest may come from South Korean-run overseas farms, said Bloomberg News.

Food-importing nations worldwide are seeking to increase domestic grain supplies or lock-in production from overseas, usually through the control of foreign farmland, to ensure food security. Wheat, corn and rice have all traded at records this year amid export curbs by some growers and increased demand.

"We need to farm grains overseas in the longer term in order to secure sources for stable food supplies," the statement said, without detailing specific measures to achieve the output target. South Korean president Lee Myung Bak said in April that the country may seek to farm rice and other grain overseas, possibly signing 50-year leases for agricultural land in Russia's Far East.

Corn prices, which touched a record last month, have risen 56 percent in the past year.