Gyeonggi-do Suffers Damage Equivalent to 415 Soccer Fields from 'Fruit Tree Bacterial Disease' Over 7 Years

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been revealed that Gyeonggi Province has suffered damage equivalent to 415 soccer fields over the past seven years due to fire blight, a disease known as the "foot-and-mouth disease of fruit trees."

In particular, a sample survey of the affected orchards showed that half of the sites where trees were buried after infection have still not resumed cultivation.

On the 28th, the Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services announced the results of a survey titled "Current Land Use Status of Farmers Compensated for Fire Blight Burial Sites in Gyeonggi Province."

According to the survey results, fire blight, which first broke out in Gyeonggi Province in 2015, was confirmed to have caused damage on 296.5 hectares across 524 farms in the province as of November last year.

Since there is no treatment for fire blight, infected trees must be buried within 10 days, and host plants (plants parasitized by the pathogen) cannot be planted for three years thereafter.

Among 340 farms in the province that received compensation for fire blight burial sites, a survey of 209 farms showed that 111 sites (53.1%) have resumed cultivation, while 98 sites (46.9%) have not.

Of the sites under cultivation, 106 farms (50.7%) were growing crops other than host plants, and 5 farms (2.4%) had replanted Rosaceae fruit trees.

For the sites not under cultivation, reasons included changes in lease contracts at 47 sites (22.5%), neglect of burial sites at 17 sites (8.1%), undecided land use at 15 sites (7.2%), and land disposal at 8 sites (3.8%).

Among those neglecting burial sites, the most common reasons were "burden of investment costs" and "failure to find orchard tenants," each cited by 5 sites (29.4%).

Based on this survey, the Gyeonggi Agricultural Research and Extension Services plans to identify alternative crops by region considering climate change, income crops, mechanization and automation of farming operations, and distribution and sales, and will publish related guidelines.

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