Local Government Officials Develop Eco-Friendly Pesticide to Prevent Onion Downy Mildew

Yongin Agricultural Technology Center Team Leader Kang Hyung-gon
In Collaboration with Agricultural Venture Companies... Patent Application Planned

A public official in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, has attracted attention by developing an eco-friendly organic pesticide to prevent onion diseases in collaboration with a venture company.

Yongin City announced on the 10th that Kang Hyung-gon, head of the Horticultural Technology Team at the Agricultural Technology Center, recently developed an organic pesticide to prevent downy mildew in eco-friendly cultivated onions in cooperation with the agricultural venture company LFF Co., Ltd., and is preparing to file a patent application.

A representative from the Yongin Agricultural Technology Center is cultivating onions to demonstrate the use of organic pesticides for eco-friendly onion farming.
[Photo by Yongin City]

Downy mildew is a representative disease that damages onions during cultivation. Before and after overwintering, the fungus spreads to stems and leaves, causing primary infection, and around March, spores cause secondary infection, hindering growth. Although there are about ten chemical control agents available on the market for secondary downy mildew, there has been no suitable pesticide for primary infection, forcing farmers to either give up eco-friendly cultivation or move to other fields where the disease did not occur, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.

Yongin City explained that farmers faced many difficulties, especially since only eco-friendly pesticides can be used for onions supplied to school meals. Currently, 28 farms in Yongin City cultivate onions over an area of 15 hectares.

The newly developed pesticide combines iodine and sulfur with carbon and is known to have antibacterial and antiviral effects that prevent fungal growth on plants. This pesticide applies the 'organic metallization conversion technology,' which combines inorganic ions with organic substances to create materials with new functions.

The city explained that after conducting a two-year field trial from 2022 on a 3,000㎡ onion farm in Baegam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, the pesticide showed a 70% harvest rate despite downy mildew infection, confirming its effectiveness in preventing and treating pests and diseases. Additionally, safety was confirmed as no residual pesticides were detected in 463 harmful substance tests conducted on the harvested onions.

Kang’s pesticide development was achieved through selection in 2020 for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ national research project, the 'Development Project for Industrialization Technology Responding to Crop Viruses and Pests.'

This is not Kang’s first agricultural pesticide development. In 2019, he developed a pesticide to control tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in chili peppers, and in 2023, a pesticide for Panama disease (banana super fungus) in bananas, filing seven patents over the past five years.

Kang said, "I developed the pesticide while thinking about ways to ease the worries of farmers who cultivate fresh and safe agricultural products supplied to school meals," adding, "I will promptly proceed with patent applications to ensure the pesticide is distributed as soon as possible."

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