Kim Hyo-jun, 58, sighed repeatedly on the morning of March 9 as he gazed at his strawberries, still green when they should have ripened to red by now.
Kim operates a 1,650-square-meter strawberry farm in Joan-myeon, Gyeonggi Province. To maintain the optimal growing temperature of 20 degrees Celsius during the day and 10 degrees at night, he relies on a kerosene boiler. He recently paid 1.5 million won ($1,100) for fuel, up 500,000 won from the 1 million won he spent as recently as January.
"Kerosene is particularly heavily used for heating in rural areas, and since the war broke out in Iran, the costs we have to bear are increasing day by day," Kim said. "I brought in bumblebees to help pollinate the strawberries, but when temperatures drop, their activity falls by half, so I have no choice but to run the kerosene boiler."
As the U.S.-Iran conflict shows signs of prolonging, domestic fuel prices continue to surge. The spike extends beyond gasoline and diesel to indoor kerosene used in greenhouse agriculture and floriculture, dealing a direct blow to farmers and fishermen.
Read more at Seoul Economic Daily
