(Muan=Yonhap News) Reporter Hyeong Min-woo = On the 1st, Representative Park Hyeong-dae (Progressive Party, Jangheung 1) of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly urged the government to immediately recognize rice stripe disease as an agricultural disaster and conduct an emergency damage assessment.
Representative Park issued a statement on the same day, arguing that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' announcement that it would decide on the recognition of agricultural disaster by mid-October was a choice made at a time when it was practically impossible to conduct a damage assessment, as the rice harvest was already in full swing. He emphasized that it would be difficult to identify the damage status and causes after the rice has been harvested.
He further stressed, "Before the Chuseok holiday, the basic damage assessment should be completed, and through swift recognition of the agricultural disaster, we should not ignore the reality that farmers' livelihoods are being devastated."
Over the past 10 years, the average annual occurrence of rice stripe disease was 16,000 hectares, and as of the 16th of last month, damage was confirmed in 29,700 hectares nationwide.
The regional damage areas were tallied as 13,300 hectares in Jeonnam, 7,000 hectares in Chungnam, 4,700 hectares in Gyeongbuk, and 1,200 hectares in Jeonbuk.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the same day that it would begin a detailed investigation into the current status of rice stripe disease damage and the analysis of its causes.