Rural Development Administration, Typhoon No. 9 heading north… “We ask that you minimize damage to crops in the late growing season.”

The Rural Development Administration (Director Kwon Jae-han) held an emergency meeting chaired by Deputy Director Seo Hyo-won at the Disaster Response Situation Room of the main office on August 20, and discussed recovery measures for damage to the agricultural sector expected to be affected by Typhoon No. 9 ‘Jongdari’.

Rural Development Administration officials reported the typhoon response situation by sector, and the heads of the nine provincial agricultural technology institutes, connected via video, shared regional situations and typhoon preparation measures.

Deputy Director Seo Hyo-won emphasized, “As crops scheduled to be shipped during Chuseok are entering the final stage of growth, thorough management is necessary to prevent fruit loss and flooding damage caused by typhoons.” He added, “We will once again inform farmers of typhoon damage prevention tips and provide on-site “Encourage them to respond proactively, and after the typhoon dissipates, quickly identify the damage situation and prepare to provide rapid technical support,” he instructed.

The Rural Development Administration monitors weather conditions and the status of major crops in real time, and continuously provides crop management information according to weather conditions to 1.82 million agricultural operators who have subscribed to the weather response text notification service.

In addition, the central field technical support team (5 teams, 120 people) and local officers are dispatched to areas (14 cities, counties, 640 towns, villages) that have suffered flooding damage due to heavy rain over the past three years to conduct intensive inspections. We are working with the Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services and city/county agricultural technology centers to find ways to minimize typhoon damage, and are continuously conducting promotional and technical support activities for farms to quickly recover from damage.

Meanwhile, Typhoon No. 9 ‘Jongdari’ is expected to pass through Jeju Island, the Jeonnam region, and the west coast of Jeollabuk-do and land inland. As strong rain accompanied by gusts of wind, thunder, and lightning is forecast to fall, we must focus on minimizing damage to crops through post-typhoon management.

Chae Eui-seok, manager of the Disaster Response Department at the Rural Development Administration, said, “We will quickly identify typhoon damage, focusing on Chuseok preparation items and crops about to be harvested, and do our best to provide stable crop supply through on-site technical support.”

Editor. Seyeong Hong