“Apples, pears, etc. are in full bloom 10 days early”… Government, intensive promotion of low-temperature damage prevention :: sympathetic media Newsis news agency ::

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, inspection of disaster status and role of each institution

[세종=뉴시스] Reporter Park Young-joo = The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 30th that it will intensively promote disaster prevention response this year, starting with preparations for low-temperature damage to fruit trees that usually occur during the flowering period in April.

It is predicted that the full bloom (flowering) of major fruit trees this year will be earlier than normal. For apples, starting from Gunwi, Gyeongsangbuk-do on April 6-8, more than 10 days from the previous year, for pears, from Ulsan on April 3, starting from Ulsan Metropolitan City, from 2 to 9 days than usual, and for peaches, starting from Cheongdo, Gyeongsangbuk-do on April 3, up to 10 days. expected to work quickly.

It is pointed out that the time of full bloom, which is most vulnerable to low temperatures, coincides with the time when low-temperature damage occurred in the past, so if the temperature goes down, the scale of damage can increase. In the past, low-temperature damage to fruit trees occurred on April 3-4, 2019, April 5-9, 2020, and April 14-15, 2021.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs inspected the status of major disasters by period and the roles of each institution, and prepared improvement plans to prevent damage. In particular, it will be applied starting with activities to prevent low-temperature damage that can occur in April, the flowering period.

First of all, in order to ensure that disaster forecasts and precautionary measures are accurately delivered to the farm household level, farmhouse contact networks are maintained, individual text messages are sent, and village broadcasting is conducted. It is to establish an information delivery system to promptly disseminate local disaster situations.

In addition, promotional materials such as notices for disaster prevention were prepared in a simple and intuitive way so that farmers could easily understand and take action. The person in charge of the final dissemination stage should also be clarified to prevent information omission.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs inspects the current status of implementation, such as farmhouse education, normal operation of damage mitigation facilities, guidance on follow-up measures, and on-site technical guidance. In the event of low temperature damage, follow-up measures such as quickly grasping the current status of damage by region and item, adding artificial pollination, spraying nutrients to restore water quality, and delaying the timing of harvesting fruits (removing excess fruits when they are young when the number of fruits is excessive) plan to guide.

In the event of damage, local governments (local governments) will promptly conduct damage investigations to support damage restoration costs, and in the case of disaster insurance farms, insurance money will be paid through damage assessment.

Kim Jong-gu, director general of distribution and consumption policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “In order to promptly respond to various pests and natural disasters such as droughts and typhoons as well as low-temperature damage to fruit trees, we conduct joint inspections with related organizations such as local governments by time and implement education, guidance, and disaster prevention improvement plans. We plan to periodically check the status,” he said.

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