Fruit production can be negatively affected by viruses that cause the fruit to rot.<br />To prevent this, the Korean government has been supplying farms with seedlings that are resistant to viruses.<br />Park Se-young has more. <br />A virus has caused these peaches to either rot or drop off the branch.<br />In fact, peaches have an infection rate of 65 percent.<br />Viral diseases affect 48 percent of apples, 30 percent of persimmons and 25 percent of tangerines.<br /><br /><br />"This reduces the quantity, quality and sugar content. It also causes fruits to fall off trees.<br /><br />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.<br />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.<br />These fruits are the main products of Korea's orchards.<br />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.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br />
