Haenam-gun Receives Top Award in Agricultural Disaster Response Sector

Published 01 Dec.2021 16:37(KST)

Highly Praised for Rapid Aerial Pest Control Following Heavy Rainfall

The joint aerial pest control launch ceremony for rice is being held. Photo by Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, received the Grand Prize at the ‘2021 Agricultural Disaster Response Best Practice Competition’ held by the Rural Development Administration.

According to the county on the 1st, the Agricultural Disaster Response Best Practice Competition is held annually targeting agricultural technology centers nationwide to discover and award excellent cases that contributed to the promotion of agricultural disaster response work, thereby boosting the morale of rural development institutions and establishing a rapid disaster response cooperation system.

The Haenam-gun Agricultural Technology Center was highly evaluated for actively promoting disaster response and prevention activities such as expanding the dissemination project of new technologies for abnormal weather response for agricultural disaster response, field-centered prevention and post-management of weather disasters, rapid cooperative response to minimize damage when sudden pests occur, and preemptive pest control in agricultural and forest areas in cooperation with the forestry department.

In particular, after the heavy rain in July, the center established a cooperative network among the center, Nonghyup, and the private sector, and promoted comprehensive emergency aerial pest control for rice diseases and pests, receiving high marks for preventing damage from diseases and pests and stably producing high-quality rice.

Haenam-gun recorded an average rainfall of 315mm during the heavy rain warning period in July, and about 5,200 hectares of rice cultivation area suffered flooding and waterlogging damage. Even after the water receded, concerns about secondary damage such as rice blast, bacterial leaf blight, and planthoppers arose, leading to the nationwide first comprehensive pest control over the entire rice cultivation area in the jurisdiction.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan stated, “We will continue to contribute to the stable production of agricultural products in Haenam-gun through timely dissemination of new agricultural disaster response technologies, expansion of technology dissemination in response to climate change, and establishment of a cooperative system for pest monitoring and control, as well as proactive response and guidance.”