Autumn military insects 0831 "Chiayi City infested with insects, confirming the fall of Taiwan!" It is necessary to strictly guard against the planting of miscellaneous grains in autumn.

0 Share

Chiayi City, where there had been no cases of autumn marches in the past, found corn plants damaged beside the Bazhangxi embankment on August 29. After notification, it was diagnosed as autumn army insects, confirming that the whole Taiwan fell!

As of 17:00 on the 29th, the number of reported cases of domestic autumn armyworm reached 247, of which 81 had been released from control and 166 were still under control. All cases under control now involve the use of drugs, and the rate of increase in notifications has slowed since August.

According to the Bureau of Prevention and Inspection, so far, the crops in the notified area are still mainly corn, with Yunjia area in the west as the bulk. There were sorghum and Bermuda grass reported last month. At present, there are no other crops. However, due to heavy rainfall from August 12 to 21, many fields were impacted. Next, summer corn planting period began. September-October is the planting period of domestic coarse cereals, which is also the good period for moths. Strict precautions should be taken.

Autumn armyworm larvae damage leaves of newly planted corn plants in Chiayi (Photo source/Bureau of Control and Inspection) SOP: notification, culling, hanging, turning over fields, flooding, insolation

Since the discovery of autumn armyworm in June, the epidemic situation has been gradually controlled under the cooperation of the Bureau of Prevention and Inspection, local governments and agricultural reform fields. Autumn army insects from the opposite bank spread throughout Taiwan, causing a large number of harm to corn, sorghum and other miscellaneous grain crops farmland. The Bureau of Disease Control and Inspection established a notification mechanism. After farmers reported the case, the contractor went to the scene to apply pesticide and prevent and control hanging pheromone in the area.

Tsai Hsin-yi, chief technician of the Bureau of Disease Control and Inspection's Plant Epidemic Prevention Division, explains that spraying chemicals can kill large numbers of adults on plants. After the case is completed, repeated visits to the scene to confirm whether there are residual insects will continue until all are killed. Whether or not the tubes are removed, the sex pheromones will continue to hang, preventing the autumn army insects from continuing to reproduce.

In addition, Tsai added, farmers will also be taught to plough the field after application, and flood the field, if not flooded, then expose to sunlight, flooding or exposure for 3-7 days, can kill the insect pupae. At present, Yunjia in the west is the main reporting area, while organic and friendly farmland is mostly reported in the east. For farmers who adopt friendly environment farming, Cai Xinyi suggests that they can use Bacillus thuringiensis and Metarhizium nigrum as control.

Chen Hung-po, head of the plant quarantine team at the National Bureau of Disease Control and Quarantine, explains that the field cleaning operation (referred to as garden cleaning) does not require chemicals, and can be used by organic or habitual farmers. Without chemicals, it is more friendly to the environment. After clearing the garden, rice rotation can also be carried out, and the probability of residual insect reproduction can be greatly reduced by rice rotation.