Gunsan City Expands Eco-Friendly Joint Pest Control Citywide

First Case Among Local Governments Nationwide
"Only Eco-Friendly Pesticides to Be Used"

Gunsan City in North Jeolla Province will expand its eco-friendly joint pest control project to the entire region starting this year. On May 14, Gunsan City announced that it had completed the application process for the "2026 Eco-Friendly Joint Pest Control Support Project" and will finalize the implementation plan within May. This year's project will cover a total of 11,873 hectares of rice paddies in the area.

Previously, in March, Gunsan City decided to expand the scope of support for pest control, which had focused on eco-friendly cultivation complexes, to cover the entire city. This marks the first case among local governments nationwide to fully implement eco-friendly joint pest control on a citywide scale.

After repeated outbreaks of pests and diseases such as rice planthoppers and rice blast disease caused by severe heat waves and heavy rains over the past two years, Gunsan City allocated the entire project budget of 4,155.5 million won this year from its own funds. The city aims to: ▲ contain the spread of rice planthoppers ▲ simultaneously control pests and diseases ▲ and strengthen the foundation for eco-friendly cultivation, by building a pest control system tailored to the characteristics of each area. To this end, recommended pesticides have already been selected through local pest control councils at the township, town, and neighborhood levels.

In particular, this year's project goes beyond simply providing pesticides. In response to the increasing number of elderly farmers and labor shortages in rural areas, the core strategy is the operation of "joint pest control teams" in cooperation with local agricultural cooperatives. By utilizing drones and large-scale pest control equipment, wide areas can be treated simultaneously in a short period of time.

All pesticides used in the project will be eco-friendly products registered as "organic agricultural materials." This is expected to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, lower the risk of developing pest resistance, and help protect the soil and agricultural ecosystem.

While cases combining eco-friendly agriculture and joint pest control are increasing nationwide, it is considered unusual to implement such a project targeting all farmland in a city, rather than just specific eco-friendly complexes. Gunsan City plans to begin supplying pesticides in June, and will carry out large-scale joint pest control operations during July and August, when pest and disease outbreaks are most frequent.

Park Yongwoo, Head of Food Policy at Gunsan City, stated, "To maximize the effectiveness of eco-friendly pesticides, it is important for the entire region to conduct pest control within a short period of time," and urged, "We ask that even farmers who manage pest control individually participate according to the joint pest control schedule organized by local agricultural cooperatives."

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