PROBLEMS CAUSED BY FIRE BLIGHTS

[Anchor Lead]

Farmers in Chungcheongbuk-do Province in central Korea are suffering immensely from fire blight that ravage their orchards. Once this condition develops, the only solution is to bury the trees in the ground, resulting in bare orchards in the affected areas. However, a more serious problem is that burial of fruit trees could lead to massive landslides during the summer rainy season. Most of the orchards in Chungcheongbuk-do Province are located on mountain slopes, so removal of trees means there is no proper prevention measure against landslides.

[Pkg]

1,400 apple trees in this orchard had to be buried in the ground because of fire blight. The soil on the slope seems ready to slide down. Villagers living below the orchard are concerned about the barren hills.

[Soundbite] Park Yong-gi(Dongryang Resident) : "Since the trees have been uprooted, there’s nothing to hold onto the land. A landslide could bury the houses below."

Last summer was nightmarish for this village where 95% of the apple orchards lost their crops due to fire blight. Last year torrential rain beat down on the exposed hills, the so-called apple grave, and caused unprecedented flood damage.

[Soundbite] Lee Won-il(Sancheok Resident) : "The soil was upturned. So the rain swept away the soil easily and caused a landslide."

In order to prevent the spread of the fire blight bacteria, orchards are responsible for burying the trees within 10 days of first appearance. Since the burial cost is subsidized at the same rate as the farms on flatland, orchard farmers can’t afford to put up landslide prevention facilities.

[Soundbite] Kim Jin-seok(Dongryang Resident) : "It’s more trouble to bury the trees on hillside than it’s worth. I’m worried about the rain because it could cause a landslide."

Experts point out authorities have to take into account aftereffects of disease prevention measures.

[Soundbite] Lee Su-gon(Former Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Seoul) : "If orchards are overturned, appropriate geological and topographical measures should be taken to prevent landslides."

In the Chungbuk region alone, orchards the size of 120 football fields have already disappeared due to fire blight this year. Fire blight prevention should go beyond just leaving it up to farmers to bury diseased trees, and involve detailed measures that address secondary damage as well.