SEOUL, July 18 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- The total area of farmland damaged by the torrential rains that pounded South Korea over the past two days is equivalent to 18,000 soccer fields, Yonhap News Agency reported.
A total of 13,033 hectares of farmland were estimated to have been submerged by the heavy downpours as of Thursday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday.
The central region of South Chungcheong Province was hit the hardest, accounting for more than 95 per cent of the damaged area, while over 12,000 hectares, or more than 80 per cent of the damaged land, were rice paddies.
As for livestock, 56 cattle, 200 pigs and 600,000 chickens have been killed due to the heavy rain.
With damage snowballing amid continued heavy downpours, Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung convened an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss recovery measures.
The ministry plans to work with related agencies and local governments to prevent further damage, while speeding up damage assessments, so that those affected can quickly receive insurance payments and subsidies.
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP
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