He's the rice bug buster! "Dr. Rice Bug" Yao Meiji persisted for 31 years, guarding the whole barn with research

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People will use the term "rice worm" to describe people who are gluttonous and lazy, but they do not know that there is a "rice bug doctor" in Taiwan who is the only surviving and hardworking doctor. Yao Mei-ji, an associate researcher at the Agricultural Experimental Institute, has studied rice insects for 31 years and has visited the barns of peasant associations all over Taiwan all year round, just to reduce the impact of rice insects on rice, and to protect every grain of rice in all barns, so that people can eat bowl after bowl of rice. The only rice worm researcher in Taiwan recently won the award of "Outstanding Agricultural Education and extension personnel" of the year.

Yao Meiji has studied rice insects for more than 30 years, and is currently the only "Dr. Rice insect" (Photo / Cai Jiashan) in Taiwan since the Japanese occupation period. She has been running continuously for 31 years.

Yao Meiji, whose name sounds like a girl at first glance, is actually a gentle and humble man. In 51 years, he was a devout Christian. He completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in the entomology department of Chung Hsing University. After leaving the army, he went to the agricultural examination center and worked for more than 30 years.

"I used to study vegetable insects at school, but I came to the agricultural examination institute to study rice worms." Yao Meiji studied the drug resistance of Plutella xylostella in the master's class. as soon as he came into the agricultural examination institute, he was given the major task of taking over the research of rice insects. "at that time, the rice worm researcher was 64-year-old Lin Kui. He has been studying rice insects since the Japanese occupation, but when I came to the agricultural examination institute, he would retire in another year."

Yao Meiji studied with her master Lin Meiji in her first year, and then the master retired, leaving an assistant to assist Yao Meiji. In the days that followed, Lin Kui, who retired, also came back from time to time to solve his doubts until Yao Meiji was able to take care of herself.

"the place I go most often is the barn, and my task is to protect every grain of rice as much as possible." Yao Meiji speaks in a gentle and gentle voice, but when it comes to rice worms, she speeds up in silence.

Only the pests after rice harvest and leaving the field can be regarded as "rice insects".

Easterners take rice as their staple food. in terms of area and yield, rice is the number one crop in the country. The Agriculture and Food Administration, which is responsible for the production and marketing of domestic crops, has even compiled a deputy director to take charge of rice. The pest of such an important crop, rice worm, is naturally the number one public enemy.

The most common rice bug among the public: Rice elephant (Photo courtesy of Yao Meiji)

Speaking of rice insects, Yao Meiji first made it clear: "Rice worms can only be counted as rice insects when rice leaves the field." He said that the main pests in the rice field, such as Chilo suppressalis, Brown planthopper, Chilo suppressalis and black-tailed leafhopper, are different from rice insects and are only suitable for living in the field. "most rice pests are Hemiptera, for example, brown planthoppers like to suck rice juice, but after rice is dried into millet, the outer husk is so hard that the feeding utensils (mouths) of brown planthoppers cannot be poked in."

But if the pests in the field are different from those in the barn, where do the rice insects come from? "if the barn is not well managed, the rice worms are simply raised by themselves." Yao Meiji said that after the rice harvest, the rice dryer must go into the rice dryer, and the dryer can only be used every year after the first or second rice harvest, and the rest of the time is idle. If the rice dryer and the barn are not cleaned regularly, the residual grain in the dryer conveyor belt and on the ground of the barn will attract rice insects to "settle down", and then Xingu will dry or enter the warehouse to "replenish" the rice insects.

Four common rice insects in Taiwan: Rice weevil, beetle beetle, wheat moth and outer rice moth

Most people remember that the rice bug is the black bug that emerges when washing rice, that is, the rice elephant, but the rice elephant is only a member of the rice bug kingdom. There are more than 500 species of rice insects in the world, of which there are more than 100 species in Taiwan. At present, there are about 20 species of rice insects. In addition to the most common rice weevil, there are also beetles, wheat moths, and outer rice moths. The species include Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, while the damage to crops is not limited to rice, but even whole grains may be the target of rice insects.

Yao Meiji explained that the time and location of damage to different kinds of rice insects are different, which can be divided into primary and secondary hazards. The rice worm that can eat directly and cause harm belongs to the primary harm, while the rice worm that follows after the occurrence of the primary harm belongs to the secondary harm. On the other hand, rice insects are also encountered before and after the glume of rice is removed: the rice stored in the barn and without glume removal is vulnerable to beetle beetle and wheat moth; rice is vulnerable to rice moth in the process of rice milling; and brown rice after shelling is vulnerable to rice weevil.

Millet beetle

Wheat moth

Rice elephant