▲ An apple that has turned yellowish and burned black from intense sunlight is shown being held up at an apple orchard in Sinam-myeon, Yesan-gun, South Chungcheong Province, on the morning of the 6th.
A record-breaking, prolonged heat wave sweeping across the country is causing severe damage to apples, a staple fruit for the upcoming Chuseok holiday.
At an apple farm in Sinam-myeon, Yesan-gun, South Chungcheong Province, on the morning of the 6th, apples suffering from sunburn uniformly showed round, yellowish discoloration on the sides directly hit by the intense sunlight. More severely damaged apples had turned brown, then black, with their skins shriveling up.
One apple picked from a tree bore a palm-sized black mark, and the surrounding flesh was mushy, rendering it unfit for the market.
Mr. Jeong, a farmer in his 70s who operates an 8,000-pyeong apple orchard, lifted up a heated apple and sighed, saying, "Apples exposed to sunlight for a long time go beyond just ripening—they are practically being boiled by the intense heat."
With harvest scheduled for early to mid-next month, just before Chuseok, cases of sunburn—where apples are scorched by consecutive heat waves and intense sunlight—are on the rise.
The damage begins with the appearance of small yellow spots.
As exposure to sunlight continues, the yellow areas gradually expand, and in severe cases, turn brown or black while the flesh becomes soft.
Mr. Jeong estimates that current damage accounts for about 10 percent of his total production.
However, with time still remaining until harvest and hot, humid weather continuing, he expressed concern over the possibility of compounding damage from pests and diseases.
He expressed concern, saying, "The government expects this year's apple production to be high, but if the damage continues like this, the actual harvest could drop compared to last year."
The damage does not end with a single spoiled apple.
Once the sunburned area becomes soft, it easily attracts bugs and becomes susceptible to diseases such as anthracnose.
Leaving damaged fruit as it is can cause diseases to spread to surrounding apples, so they must be plucked as soon as they are found.
Mr. Jeong explained, "If you consider the direct damage of a single apple to be 100 won, the actual loss is several times that. Besides the loss of marketable produce, labor costs are required to pluck the damaged apples, and if diseases or bugs spread, the scale of the damage grows even larger."
Farmers are struggling to reduce damage by operating micro-sprinkler systems that spray ultra-fine water mists or by using calcium carbonate-based protective agents.
At another nearby orchard on this day, fine water was spraying from devices installed between the trees.
Water droplets so fine they were barely visible spread among the apple trees, cooling down the heat on the heated leaves and fruits.
Shading nets are considered the most effective method, but the burden of installation costs is heavy.
In Mr. Jeong's orchard, shading nets are installed in only about 3,300 square meters, which is roughly one-eighth of the total area.
This is because equipping every 3,300 square meters with pipes and semi-automatic devices costs about 50 million won.
Blue shading nets block the intense sunlight, helping the leaves and apples retain more vitality compared to areas directly exposed to the sun.
Some farmers have equipped their orchards with sunlight-blocking facilities before the heat wave worsened to prevent damage.
Above the orchard of Mr. Ahn (60), blue shading nets are stretched long along the rows of apple trees.
As sunburn damage kept recurring, Mr. Ahn installed nets across his entire 8,300-square-meter apple orchard two years ago.
Opting to manually set up and take down the nets each year instead of using automated facilities, he reduced material costs to about 6 million won.
Mr. Ahn said, "Even though it requires a lot of manual labor, putting up the nets before the heat wave arrives prevents the intense sunlight from hitting the apples directly. I judged that preparing in advance is better than dealing with the damage after it occurs."
Farmers worry that the heat wave will not only degrade the quality of the fruit but also impair the growth of the trees, potentially affecting next year's farming as well.
Mr. Jeong said, "Micro-sprinklers and preventive agents are helpful, but when heat waves persist for a long time, shading nets are the most effective. Since it is difficult for farmers to shoulder the installation costs alone, I hope the government and local governments will expand support so that more orchards can install shading nets."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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