[Korea Farmers' News Agency, Reporter Kim Kyung-wook] The 'rice speckled stripe disease' that has rapidly spread ahead of the harvest season has been officially recognized by the government as an agricultural disaster. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 14th that, following the review of the Agricultural Disaster Countermeasures Deliberation Committee, it has recognized the speckled stripe disease caused by this year's extreme heat and other factors as an agricultural disaster and will begin a nationwide damage survey. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the rice speckled stripe disease occurred in 36,000 hectares across the country (as of October 1) due to the influence of extreme heat in July and August and frequent rainfall in September. By region, Jeonnam has the most with 13,000 hectares, followed by Chungnam with 7,800 hectares, Gyeongbuk with 7,300 hectares, Jeonbuk with 4,400 hectares, and others with 3,500 hectares.