[Anchor]

A severe heatwave warning has been issued in Gangwon Province for the first time this summer. Scorching sunlight has left potatoes crushed as if they were boiled, and fruits have stopped growing ahead of the peak Chuseok harvest season, leading to a succession of agricultural damages. Farmers are watching their crops wither away with growing anxiety.

Reporter Kim Do-woon from G1.

[Reporter]

Fields of cabbage spanning thousands of pyeong have been entirely plowed under.

While harvesting was temporarily delayed to match market prices, the crops completely burned black.

They would have been worth tens of millions of won if sold at fair prices.

Even potatoes that were fine until a week ago have completely rotted.

No matter how deep they dig into the ground, there are no healthy potatoes to be found.

In the boiling temperatures, they have turned soft and mash like boiled potatoes.

Having farmed for 40 years, this is the first time seeing anything like this.

[Lee Sang-hyuk / Haean-myeon, Yanggu-gun, Gangwon Province: There are one or two fields like this. How can I even put it into words? It is so upsetting.]

Fruits have not been able to escape the heat either.

Apples are suffering from sunburn, and peaches are experiencing splitting, where the fruits burst open.

Varieties that should be growing rapidly to meet the Chuseok shipment schedule have stopped growing due to the heat.

[Cheon Jeong-tae / Apple Farmer: Chuseok is in late September, and this is not the time for them to be coloring yet. The sides exposed to continuous sunlight are turning red. And if it gets worse, they turn white.]

Amid relentless heatwaves, the province's first severe heatwave warnings were issued for areas including Chuncheon, Hongcheon, and Hoengseong, but farmers cannot stop working when they see their crops burning up.

[Park Won-sun / Peach Farmer: They tell us not to go out and work during the day, but these peaches keep rotting away. How can we just sit by?]

Currently, damage reports are focused primarily on human casualties and livestock, making it difficult to even gauge the full extent of the losses suffered by farming households.

As the heat scorches the hearts of farmers, an impact on agricultural prices for the upcoming Chuseok holiday appears inevitable.

(Video Journalist: Son Young-oh from G1 Broadcasting)

Kim Do-woon, G1