Chuseok is the harvest festival, but heat and drought threaten to leave fruit baskets light

GEOJE, South Gyeongsang — Farmers across Korea are grappling with mounting crop damage ahead of the Chuseok holiday, after a summer of extreme heat and drought was followed by torrential rain.

In South Gyeongsang, prolonged heat and drought left some fruit sunburned or undersized before heavy rain hit the region. While the downpours helped ease the drought, farms are now facing flooding and slow recoveries amid labor shortages, along with the threat of secondary damage from diseases and pests.

The timing is particularly concerning for fruit growers, who are approaching the Chuseok holiday period — when fruit is widely purchased as gifts and for traditional holiday rites. This year's holiday extends from Sept. 24 through 26, followed by a Sunday on Sept. 27.

Damage in South Gyeongsang

A total of 7,510 farms reported damage from heat and drought this summer, affecting 7,045 acres of farmland according to South Gyeongsang.

Sweet persimmons accounted for the largest affected area at 4,179 acres, with 1,000 acres in Changwon, South Gyeongsang — a major production area for the fruit. Damage was also reported across 2,057 acres of rice fields, 139 acres of soybean fields and 133 acres of pear orchards.

In Jinju, South Gyeongsang, some pears were damaged by fruit cracking, which can occur when fruit rapidly absorbs water after prolonged hot and dry conditions. The sudden expansion of the flesh can cause the skin to split.

Heavy rain during the Liberation Day holiday period from Aug. 15 to 17 compounded the damage. The rain flooded or washed away rice, grapes, tomatoes and other crops across the province.

In Geoje — where particularly heavy rainfall struck — floodwaters rose above even the height of an adult at some grape farms and swept away grapes awaiting shipment.

After the rain subsided, rising temperatures and humidity brought another concern for fruit growers: anthracnose.

Disease threatens Chuseok fruit supply

Anthracnose is a fungal disease that can cause sunken lesions on fruit such as sweet persimmons and, in severe cases, cause the flesh to rot.

Size, appearance and coloring are important factors in determining the price of fruit sold for Chuseok. With extreme heat and drought already leaving more fruit undersized, the spread of anthracnose could further reduce the amount suitable for gifts and traditional holiday rites. It can also increase losses during sorting and storage.

The Rural Development Administration has been monitoring the risk of anthracnose spreading and urged farmers to step up preventive measures. Before this month's heavy rain, monitoring had already detected anthracnose in sweet persimmons, peaches and apples in South Gyeongsang, North Gyeongsang, South Chungcheong and South Jeolla.

"When a large amount of rain falls in a short period, splashing rainwater can carry spores of the pathogen that causes anthracnose to nearby fruit," an official from the administration said. "If high temperatures follow the rain, symptoms in already infected fruit can worsen quickly."

"Thorough inspections and preventive measures are particularly necessary in areas such as South Gyeongsang, which were heavily affected by the recent torrential rain," the official added.

Damage in other regions

Crop damage has also been reported elsewhere in the country.

North Gyeongsang received around 60 to 90 millimeters (2.4 to 3.5 inches) of rain in some areas during the Liberation Day holiday period. Reservoirs supplying agricultural water, however, still remained at just 44 percent of capacity, well below the seasonal average of 69.6 percent.

To prevent water shortages from causing further damage to apple and grape farms, North Gyeongsang plans to provide an additional 5.07 billion won ($36.7 million) in special disaster relief funding from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The money will support the installation of wells and temporary pumping stations, the pumping equipment operations and the water truck rentals.

In South Jeolla, heavy rain flooded rice, fig and pepper farms, particularly in three counties — Yeongam, Muan and Haenam. However, rainfall was insufficient in reservoir catchment areas, which left the average water level at agricultural reservoirs in the province at 42.4 percent of capacity, compared with the seasonal average of 64.4 percent.

In Gujwa-eup, Jeju, the fields were flooded by a heavy downpour after carrot planting, which had been delayed because of a drought.

The government will provide pesticides and nutrients at discounts of up to 50 percent through 62 agricultural cooperatives in major fruit-growing regions. It also plans to stagger produce shipments ahead of the Chuseok holiday, rather than having them all enter the market at the same time.

Parts of Geoje and Tongyeong, in South Gyeongsang, were designated special disaster areas on Friday. This allows affected residents to receive additional government assistance — deferred national and local tax payments and reductions in electricity, telecommunications and city gas bills. The designation is made for areas where the scale of disaster damage is considered too severe for local governments to handle on their own.

"We will develop a fundamental recovery plan to prevent the same damage from recurring," said Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung, who heads the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

BY KIM MIN-JU [[email protected]]