Naju City Launches All-Out Effort to Prevent Fruit Tree Fire Blight

Intensive Monitoring of 1,658 Hectares
and 2,184 Fruit Orchards Including Pears

Naju City has organized a surveillance and control team to proactively respond to fire blight disease, monitoring orchards covering an area of 1,658 hectares within the jurisdiction and focusing on on-site guidance. Photo by Naju City

Naju City in Jeollanam-do, the nation's largest pear-producing region, is investing 530 million KRW this year to supply agricultural chemicals and block the outbreak of fire blight in fruit orchards.

Fire blight is a disease caused by pests and pathogens that makes the leaves, stems, branches, and fruits turn black and wither as if they have been burned.

Because it is highly contagious and there is no effective cure, thorough monitoring, removal of suspicious cankered branches, and timely application of control chemicals are necessary to prevent fire blight in advance.

To proactively respond to fire blight, the city designated the intensive management period for prevention from February 3 to April 25, and has organized monitoring and control teams to intensively inspect 1,658 hectares of orchards in the area.

In particular, during inspections, they emphasize 'removal of cankered areas during pruning,' 'application of fire blight control chemicals during winter and flowering periods,' and 'disinfection of work tools using disinfectants.'

Additionally, to enable fruit growers to implement control measures themselves, the city provided a total of 12 fire blight prevention training sessions for about 1,200 farmers and is continuously sharing practical prevention guidelines in cooperation with township administrative welfare centers and agricultural counseling offices.

Three types of control chemicals proven effective for fire blight prevention were selected through pre-applications from pear and apple growers last December, and supply was completed as of the 14th.

Choi Chunok, head of the Naju Agricultural Technology Center, said, "I hope farmers will take thorough preventive measures themselves, such as disinfecting work tools and controlling access to outsiders, with the belief that 'I will protect my own orchard.'"