Meteorological agriculture releases the first meteorological grade forecast of agricultural and forestry diseases and insect pests this year.

The reporter learned from the first issue of 2015 "Meteorological Grade Forecast of Agricultural and Forestry Diseases and insect pests" jointly issued by the China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture on March 24 that rape in most areas of the Yangtze River Basin is in the stage of universal flowering, entering the peak epidemic period of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and the key stage of control. The China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly remind us to pay close attention to weather changes, strengthen the monitoring, prevention and control of flowering diseases, and timely spray prevention and control according to the actual condition to effectively control the damage.

From the end of February to the middle of March, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River continued to have little rain, with more than 10 days of precipitation, 15-25 days in most of the south of the Yangtze River, 40-90% less sunshine, and over-wet soil in some low-lying farmland. Rape planting or continuous cropping, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum source is sufficient, rape sclerotinia disease occurs early. As of March 20, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in most areas of the Yangtze River Basin was in the initial stage of leaf disease, with an area of 14.42 million mu, an increase of 10.8% over the previous year.

In the next 10 days, there will be more cloudy and rainy weather in the south, with rainfall of 25mm to 60mm in the south of the Yangtze River, including 70mm in parts of southern Hunan. The overcast, rainy and humid weather is suitable for the prevalence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. It is expected that Sclerotinia sclerotiorum will occur more seriously in most areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, especially in eastern Hubei, southwestern Anhui, northern Jiangxi and northeastern Hunan. Other rape producing areas occurred moderately.

The China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture remind farmers and relevant departments to pay close attention to weather changes, strengthen the monitoring, prevention and control of flowering diseases, and timely spray prevention and control according to the actual condition to effectively control the damage.