Stick insects are proving to be a particularly serious pest this year in agricultural areas of South Hamkyung Province, Daily NK has learned. Local people are reportedly increasingly concerned about the rising toll the insects are inflicting on the corn harvest.
A source from the region told Daily NK on the 21st, “It’s almost autumn when people are going to have to harvest the corn, but the stick insects have eaten away at the stems and kernels. Some people will still try to cook the damaged corn and sell it to earn a little bit of money, but they are getting more worried now.”
The source added, “By mid-August, people who planted their corn early should be eating the first crop. Some people sell them in the market, too. Damaged corn does not sell at full price, though, so their socio-economic situation will only get worse.”
“Corn is a very flexible crop because, like barley and potatoes, it can act as a substitute for rice,” the source went on. “But since this year’s corn harvest has been heavily damaged the people’s food situation will get worse. Until we start harvesting the rice in September a lot of families will go hungry.”
Another source added, “Right now in South Hamkyung there are stick insects everywhere, but the damage is at its worst around Dancheon. Residents are at risks of starving, let alone preparing for Chuseok.” Chuseok is the traditional Korean harvest festival, which falls in mid-September this year.
The second source also explained that in some areas the people are picking the corn early to try and limit the damage, but this is not a good solution, either, since “the damaged corn is not fully ripe so they don’t sell at the best price.”
“The people are catching the insects, too, but since they have to catch them one by one it can take a whole day just to catch one hundred stick insects. Even if they spend all day every day catching them, they don’t disappear.”
