Spring frost damages crops

[Anchor]

As if spring had barely arrived, temperatures have dropped sharply, causing widespread frost damage to crops.

With the erratic weather, farmers are facing hardships from the very start of the season.

This is Baek Sang-hyun reporting.

[Report]

The pear orchard is covered in white pear blossoms, but upon closer inspection, the stamens have turned black.

When cut in half, unlike the normal ones, the cold-damaged pear blossoms have their flower buds frozen black.

At the end of last month, unusually high temperatures caused early blooming—about 10 days ahead of schedule. But over the weekend, temperatures suddenly dropped below zero, leading to cold damage.

[Lee Yeol-woo/Pear farmer: "If such days continue for about a week during the pollination period, this year’s harvest could easily fail."]

In the main pear-producing areas of Cheonan and Asan in South Chungcheong Province, there have been over 360 reports of cold damage, and the affected area has not even been tallied yet.

Crops that bloom early, such as plums, and seasonal vegetables like bracken are also showing signs of frost damage.

If frost hits during flowering, both crop quality and yield are inevitably impacted.

[Kim Soon-young/Pear farmer: "If I give up farming, what will happen to these trees? I still have to care for them. Even if there’s frost damage, I need to continue farming—for next year too."]

With the unusual low temperatures in mid-April, the spread of cold damage has raised alarms about the supply of fruits early on.

[Chae Ui-seok/Director of Disaster Prevention at the Rural Development Administration: "We recommend delaying fruit thinning to secure as many fruits as possible by June and applying nutrients to help the trees recover."]

With unpredictable climate changes and no clear solution, farmers are left to worry in silence.

This is KBS News Baek Sang-hyun.