"1-Ton Trucks Have Limits": Carrot Farmers in Jeju Stressed Over Drought

Farmers in the Gujwa-eup area of Jeju City and Seongsan-eup area of Seogwipo City, who are in the middle of the carrot sowing season, are suffering from anxiety due to drought.

Because all farm households are trying to water their fields at the same time, the water shortage is severe.

Some village water management committees supply agricultural water by time slots, while others do so on alternating days.

Most farming households cannot rely solely on agricultural water, so they are personally hauling water in trucks to run sprinklers.

Every day from early in the morning, farmers drive trucks equipped with one to two 1- to 2-ton plastic water tanks in the truck bed, go to locations where public water bags (8 tons) are installed to receive water, head to their carrot fields, and repeat the process of transferring the water into self-installed water bags.

Oh, an 81-year-old resident of Handong-ri, sighed on the 12th, saying, "My wife and I have been moving diligently since early in the morning to haul water 7 to 8 times a day, but 1-ton trucks have their limits," adding, "Drought damage repeats every carrot sowing season, but no fundamental solutions are coming out."

He expressed concern, saying, "I sowed carrots on the 1st, and sprouts have only come up in fields that were watered well," and "Even if sprouts come up, if we cannot continue to supply water properly or if it does not rain, the sprouts could wither away under the hot sun."

Carrots usually sprout 7 to 10 days after sowing.

Soil moisture in the Gujwa-eup area, the country's largest carrot-producing region, is currently at a deficient level.

Looking at the drought information from the agricultural weather system operated by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the soil moisture tension in Handong-ri, Gujwa-eup is 182.4 kPa, and the soil moisture tension in Haengwon-ri is 287.9 kPa.

Soil moisture tension refers to the force with which soil pulls moisture, and a higher number means more moisture is needed.

Soil moisture stages are classified as excessively wet (0 to 30 kPa), optimal (31 to 50 kPa), slightly deficient (51 to 100 kPa), deficient (101 to 500 kPa), and severely deficient (exceeding 500 kPa).

The soil moisture tension in Goseong-ri and Susan-ri of Seongsan-eup are 1,032.8 kPa and 1,409.8 kPa, respectively, placing them at the severely deficient level.

Centering around its comprehensive agricultural drought situation room, Jeju Province is strengthening monitoring of weather, soil moisture, and water supply and demand conditions, and has been providing water supply support since July 27 in cooperation with cooperatives such as Gujwa Agricultural Cooperative and Seongsan Ilchulbong Agricultural Cooperative.

As of the 11th, Gujwa-eup has deployed 106 water bags, 40 water pumps, and 41 water supply vehicles across 16 locations, supplying 3,263 tons of water over 528 instances.

The cumulative number of administrative personnel mobilized is 429.

Local private organizations also supported 14 vehicles and about 30 people.

In Seongsan-eup, 17 water bags were installed across 8 locations, supported by 8 water pumps, 27 water supply vehicles, and a total of 132 personnel.

The supplied water volume is 1,503 tons across 151 instances.

An official from Jeju Province said, "Together with the Korea Rural Community Corporation, we are reviewing solutions such as burying pipelines connecting Seong-eup Reservoir and Songdang Reservoir to stably supply agricultural water to Gujwa-eup, Seongsan-eup, and Pyoseon-myeon, as well as temporarily increasing groundwater extraction volumes."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.