Pests and Scorching Sun... "Only Waiting for Rain"

[Anchor]

Just above in Gyeongsangbuk-do, drought damage and distress are also severe. Pepper fields are swarming with pests, while grapes and apples are scorching under the intense sun.

TBC reporter Jung Sung-wook has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a pepper field in Ilwol-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, which has reached harvest season.

Walking into the field reveals pepper leaves that have turned yellow, showing tiny faded spots on their surfaces.

Most of this pepper field has suffered damage from red spider mites, which thrive in hot and dry conditions.

Spider mites actively lay eggs and multiply in dry environments with a humidity of around 50%. Due to the heatwaves and drought that have continued since last month, the damage is spreading to pepper farms in northern regions, including Yeongyang.

[Lee Dae-hong / Agricultural Researcher, Yeongyang Pepper Research Institute: Above all, spider mites are so small that they are hard to see. If you carefully inspect the backs of the (pepper) leaves and spot mites, you must immediately apply the appropriate pesticide.]

Nearby vineyards have also suffered from sunburn damage.

Ahead of shipment, farmers are heartbroken to thin out about 20 percent of their total production due to blemishes.

[Grape Farmer: It is basically like getting burned by heat. Because it is so hot, it seems a bit worse than last year. It keeps getting worse as time goes on.]

The situation is no different in Cheongsong, a major apple-producing area.

Some apple farms are growing increasingly worried as they face both sunburn and pest damage.

On top of this, as the drought prolongs, farmers are struggling with the double burden of waging a war to secure water.

[Hwang Kyung-sik / Apple Farmer in Cheongsong: Water is scarce so we are waging a water war, and due to the extreme heatwave, sunburn damage is beginning to show here and there.]

Although the intensity of the heatwave has subsided somewhat starting this week, there is no news of refreshing rain in inland regions, leaving farmers even more anxious.

(Video by Kim Young-hwan, TBC)

Jung Sung-wook, TBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.