Korean gov't to provide farms with virus-resistant plants

  • 6 years ago
Fruit production can be negatively affected by viruses that cause the fruit to rot.
To prevent this, the Korean government has been supplying farms with seedlings that are resistant to viruses.
Park Se-young has more.
A virus has caused these peaches to either rot or drop off the branch.
In fact, peaches have an infection rate of 65 percent.
Viral diseases affect 48 percent of apples, 30 percent of persimmons and 25 percent of tangerines.


"This reduces the quantity, quality and sugar content. It also causes fruits to fall off trees.

The best way to prevent damage from disease is to develop strong virus-resistant fruit trees, which is done by putting sprouts through a heating process.
Korea's Rural Development Administration has so far perfected this production technique for apple, grape and peach seeds, …and recently it succeeded in producing disease-resistant tangerine seedlings.
These fruits are the main products of Korea's orchards.
The researchers say replacing all of the nation's fruit seedlings with virus-resistant ones by 2023 could increase the industry's revenue by over 300 million U.S. dollars a year.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.

Recommended