The South Korean government said Sunday it will buy 77,000 tons of locally produced rice to help stabilize local prices.

With the latest purchase plan, the amount of fresh crop acquired by the government will reach 240,000 tons, equivalent to last year's excess rice harvests compared with demand, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The government decided to liberalize the rice market for the first time in its history in 2014.

Apart from preventing an inflow of cheap rice imports, keeping the price of locally produced grain from falling has been a part of government efforts to protect local farmers.

Last year, the government purchased 370,000 tons of the grain, with plans to buy 30,000 tons more, as part of plans to control prices. (Yonhap)