“Pine Wilt Disease to Be Tackled in the Field” ... South Chungcheong Province Launches Its Own Control Team

[Financial News, Hongseong = Kim Won-jun, reporter] South Chungcheong Province has formed its own control team to stop the spread of pine wilt disease and has begun supporting control efforts in the field.
 South Chungcheong Province said on the 15th that it would fully activate its own control team, made up of experienced professional forestry engineers, the team leader of the provincial Forest Land Management Division and others.
 The team will divide the cities and counties in the province where pine wilt disease has been detected into four regions and provide support by visiting sites directly. Its main activities will include inspecting control operations in the field and providing tailored control advice for each region.
 The team also plans to focus on the following: the occurrence and surveillance status of pine wilt disease; control strategies and project progress in each affected area; the appropriateness and quality management of control projects; and difficulties encountered in the field.
 It will also work with local governments to resolve technical and administrative difficulties that arise during control efforts, and maintain ongoing coordination with the national pest-control response team to share field inspection results and proposed improvements. It will also distribute informational materials covering key signs of damage, prevention methods and how to report trees suspected of being affected, to raise public understanding and interest.
 Ahn Gyu-won, chief of South Chungcheong Province’s Forest Land Management Division, said, “The key to stopping the spread of pine wilt disease is to detect affected trees early and control it in time. The team will visit sites directly to address problems together, and we will spare no effort to support control measures suited to local conditions.”
 Pine wilt disease is transmitted by the vector insects solsuyeom haneulso and bukbangsuyeom haneulso. Once a tree is infected, the movement of water and nutrients is blocked, resulting in 100% mortality. In recent years, rising temperatures and drought caused by climate change have extended the insects’ active period and increased their population, and the area affected by pine wilt disease nationwide is once again on the rise.
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter