Jeonbuk Province Reports First Occurrence of 'Fruit Tree Fire Blight' and Launches Full-Scale Defense... Tensions Rise

Fast-Spreading Bacterial Disease in Fruit Trees with No Known Infection Source, Prevention, or Medication, Leading to Burial if Infected...

The appearance of fire blight, which has caused significant damage in the Chungcheong region in recent years, occurring in Iksan, Jeonbuk. Photo by Jeonbuk Province

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Gominhyeong] In recent years, the fire blight disease, which caused significant damage in the Chungcheong region, has also occurred in Jeonbuk, prompting the Jeonbuk provincial agricultural authorities to enter an emergency response system.

According to Jeonbuk Province on the 1st, fire blight was first detected in Iksan City, and to prevent its spread to other cities and counties, a full-scale response system centered on each city and county agricultural technology center has been launched.

The Jeonbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Services (Director Kim Hakju) announced on May 31 that fire blight was confirmed for the first time in the province at a 3.6ha apple orchard in Iksan and urged farmers to comply with prevention measures to stop its spread.

Fire blight is a bacterial disease that mainly damages apple and pear trees.

When infected, apple trees’ stems and leaves bend or turn red and wither, while pear tree leaves turn black, dry up, and die.

The infection spreads rapidly and causes fatal damage, but the exact cause and transmission route of this disease have not yet been clearly identified.

There are no special preventive measures or pesticides available.

Currently, the only method is to completely destroy the infected fruit trees once the disease occurs.

It first appeared in South Korea in 2015, and by 2019, it had expanded to 188 farms across 10 cities and counties covering 131.5ha, causing significant economic damage.

Because even a single infected tree can lead to the closure of the entire orchard, prevention is crucial.

As of the 1st, the Rural Development Administration reported that 87 farms covering 48.7ha nationwide have been confirmed infected, and the range of fire blight occurrence is gradually expanding nationwide, prompting the pest outbreak alert level to be raised from ‘Caution’ to ‘Warning’.

Seong Jinkyeong, Head of Technology Extension at Jeonbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Services, said, “Since fire blight is incurable, it is important for farmers to strictly follow the prevention and containment guidelines, and immediately report any suspected symptoms to the nearest agricultural technology center.”

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