Yun Byeong-tae, Mayor of Naju, Visits Pear Orchard Site... Listens to Difficulties

Yoon Byung-tae, mayor of Naju City in Jeollanam-do, visited a pear orchard where bagging work was in full swing to listen to the difficulties faced by farmers and communicated with them, urging them to prevent fire blight disease in fruit trees, which is easy to overlook during the busy farming season.

According to Naju City on the 3rd, Mayor Yoon recently held a communication session with farmers at a pear orchard located in Bonghwang-myeon, along with officials from the Nonghyup and the Naju Pear Research Association.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju is visiting a pear orchard site, having a communication session to listen to the difficulties of farmers.
[Photo by Naju City]

About 10 people attended the site, including Shin Kyung-hoon, head of NH Nonghyup Naju branch, Lee Dong-hee, chairman of Naju Pear Horticultural Nonghyup, Won Man-hee, president of the Naju Pear Research Association, and Cho Sung-eun, director of the Agricultural Technology Center.

Pear orchard farmers shared their farming difficulties, such as labor shortages, increased management costs due to rising labor wages, and increased pest and disease outbreaks caused by continuous rainfall before and after the flowering period.

In response, Mayor Yoon said, “We will do our best to operate and support the Rural Workforce Brokerage Centers and public seasonal foreign worker programs to resolve the rural labor shortage.”

The city operates three Rural Workforce Brokerage Centers (Nonghyup Central Association Naju branch, Naju Pear Horticultural Nonghyup, and Naju Agricultural and Fisheries Chamber of Commerce) that mediate labor for farms in need, and supports about 500 million KRW this year for operating 48 public seasonal workers.

Now in its second year of operation, the public seasonal worker program has received enthusiastic responses from farmers due to systematic education and management, reducing damage caused by illegal workers and offering lower labor costs compared to private labor brokerage offices.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae urged, “Please make efforts to prevent fire blight disease, which is fatal to the annual pear crop,” and requested thorough disinfection of work clothes and tools when workers enter the orchard.

Fire blight is a disease that occurs in pears and apples, characterized by rapid contagion, and is fatal as there is no cure once it occurs.

In March, Naju City invested 570 million KRW for preemptive control of fire blight disease, providing three types of pesticides to 2,226 farms covering a total of 1,713 hectares of pear and apple orchards.

Additionally, the city conducted 22 rounds of fire blight prevention education, reaching a total of 1,857 people while touring towns, townships, and neighborhoods.

Farm owner Na Jong-pil said, “Recently, some farms have faced great difficulties due to the occurrence of black rot and labor shortages,” adding, “The city and Nonghyup’s efforts to listen to the difficulties in the agricultural field and find solutions give a bright future to Naju agriculture.”

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae stated, “Through direct communication with farmers, we will seek practical agricultural policies and resolve the realistic difficulties faced by farms,” and added, “We will continue to listen to voices from the field and achieve the development of Naju agriculture through cooperation with farmers.”

Naju = Kim Yuk-bong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr