Ministry of Agriculture to Make All-Out Response to Heatwaves and Droughts with 24-Hour Emergency Operation

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) announced on August 6 that it will launch an all-out response in cooperation with related agencies to minimize damage from the ongoing heatwaves and droughts in the southern regions.

MAFRA decided to maintain a 24-hour emergency operation system centered around its Agricultural Disaster Countermeasures Situation Room.

In addition, the ministry will carry out intensive on-site activities, such as monitoring fields and broadcasting alerts using the Korea Forest Service's unmanned aerial vehicles and water spray trucks.

In particular, the ministry will operate an intensive management period for foreign workers' heatwave response until mid-August, focusing on inspecting safety blind spots.

A total of 68.7 billion won will be injected into the budget for supporting heatwave prevention supplies.

To stabilize the supply and demand of agricultural products, MAFRA has also completed the purchase and stockpiling of 15,000 tons of Chinese cabbage and 6,000 tons of radishes.

To overcome droughts in 50 cities and counties in the southern regions where recent reservoir water levels are significantly lower than average, an additional 2.1 billion won has been provided for emergency water supply measures, including river excavation.

So far, rural areas have reported 361 heat-related illnesses, including 5 deaths, while livestock death reports received by livestock disaster insurance have reached approximately 688,000 animals.

Compared to the same period last year, heat-related illnesses and livestock deaths stand at 79% and 42% respectively, but concerns are rising that damages could grow further as the heatwaves continue.

MAFRA Minister Song Mi-ryung visited a heatwave shelter at the Gapyeong-gun Agricultural Cooperative in Gyeonggi-do today to inspect heat-related illness prevention measures for farmers and foreign workers.

Minister Song emphasized, "Related agencies will cooperate and mobilize all available resources to prevent heat-related illnesses and drought damage."
 
(Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.