Pocheon-si Opens Applications for 2025 Fire Blight Preventive Pesticides

Pocheon City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Young-hyun) announced on the 3rd that it will accept applications for preemptive control agents for 2025 from the 2nd to the 31st to prevent fire blight disease in fruit trees.

Pocheon City Hall view. Provided by Pocheon City

Fire blight is a highly contagious and damaging disease that can cause significant economic losses, especially to apple and pear farmers, making prevention critically important. To this end, the city provides preemptive control agents free of charge, conducts year-round regular monitoring and preventive education, and works with farmers to create a safe cultivation environment.

The control agents will be selected through a December control agent council and are scheduled to be supplied from late February to early March 2025. Applications can be submitted via the Naver form notified by text message or in person at the Fruit Specialty Team of the Agricultural Technology Center of Pocheon City or at agricultural consultation offices in each eup, myeon, and dong. Lease farmers must submit a lease contract, and unregistered farming entities must submit photos of their cultivated land.

Since 2022, the city has mandated the preemptive spraying of control agents for fruit tree farmers. Failure to comply may result in a reduction or denial of compensation in the event of fire blight outbreak. Additionally, care must be taken not to repeatedly use control agents with the same active ingredient during the control process, and the correct dosage must be applied precisely.

Jung Young-won, Director of the Pocheon Agricultural Technology Center, stated, “Efforts to prevent fire blight are the way to protect the valuable assets of farmers. We hope all farmers will actively participate,” and requested cooperation from the farming community.

From 2025, under the revised subordinate regulations of the Plant Protection Act, farmers must complete at least one hour of preventive education annually and practice preventive measures such as disinfecting tools, applying preventive agents, and purchasing healthy seedlings. Compensation will be reduced by 60% for failure to report fire blight occurrence, 40% for refusal of surveillance investigations, and 20% for failure to complete preventive education.

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