Gyeongju City Holds Joint Rice Pest and Disease Control Demonstration Using Drones

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[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] On the 27th, Gyeongju City held a demonstration event for joint rice pest and disease control at the Southern Agricultural Machinery Rental Office during the day, attended by about 40 people including Vice Mayor Kim Hojin, city council members, local agricultural cooperative heads, leaders of agricultural organizations, and farmers.

At the event held for safe and successful pest control, two unmanned helicopters and ten drones were showcased, along with explanations of the joint control project and demonstrations of pest and disease control using unmanned helicopters and drones.

The joint rice pest and disease control project is conducted over an area of 10,260 hectares of rice cultivation with a budget of 1.9 billion KRW (950 million KRW from the city and 950 million KRW from the agricultural cooperative). This project, which started last year, involves 28 unmanned helicopters, 41 drones, and one wide-area sprayer, with control operations ongoing from the 19th of this month until August 10th.

The unmanned helicopters and drones used for pest control spray pesticides from a height of 3 meters, where the wind directs the spray toward the ground, allowing the pesticide to reach the lower parts of the crops, resulting in higher pest prevention effectiveness compared to manual spraying.

Along with controlling major pests and diseases such as rice blast, leaf sheath blight, white leaf blight, rice stink bugs, planthoppers, and rice stem borers, nutrients to improve rice quality are also sprayed simultaneously.

Kim Hojin, Vice Mayor of Gyeongju City, stated, "We will successfully carry out the joint rice pest and disease control project to solve labor shortages caused by aging, and we will do our best to support the production of high-quality rice by preventing pest and disease damage."

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