To deal with this problem, the Chairman of the
provincial People’s Committee has issued a document to direct the provincial
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to take responsibility for
hosting and coordinating with concerned departments and localities to monitor
the production of corn and manioc to give directions on varieties, seasons, and
methods of treating mosaic disease on leaves, autumn armyworms, and so on;
strengthen investigation for the early detection of the areas infected with
mosaic disease and autumn armyworms; offer measures to prevent and fight against
diseases according to the technical process of prevention and control of mosaic
disease on cassava leaves and autumn armyworms of the Department of Protection
Plants; direct the agricultural promotion system to focus on propaganda
activities and give training to farming households to bring them preventive
measures; conduct rapid investigation to find out varieties of cassava varieties
with great resistance to mosaic disease on leaves and varieties of corn with
high resistance to autumn armyworms and then show farmers how to replace
severely-infected varieties; and continue to implement the production models of
disease-free cassava varieties to ensure that disease-free varieties will be put
into production.
Also, the Chairman of the provincial People’s
Committee instructed the People’s Committees of districts and cities to
strengthen its activities to disseminate propaganda and technical information on
how to prevent mosaic disease on cassava plants and autumn armyworms from the
Plant Protection Department; recommended that farmers do not use the
cassava-root cuttings that originate in Tay Ninh, in the localities where the
disease has been announced, and in the places where the epidemic has occurred
and that farmers do not grow cassava varieties severely infected with HL-S11 and
KM 419 but use disease-free and less-susceptible varieties of KM 94; and
prevented mosaic disease from spreading by using leaf sticky traps hanging in
the field to kill spiraling whiteflies. The areas at risk of outbreaks need to
be sprayed to kill spiraling whiteflies by using plant protection products or
Dinotefuran or Pymetrozine.
For the cassava-growing areas that have been
severely infected with mosaic disease, farmers are recommend to rotate other
crops but not to plant tobacco, tomatoes, gourd, squash, chili, and so on. Also,
it is urgent to mobilize farmers to destroy the stalks of cassava leaves and
post-harvest plant residues in infected areas; strengthen the inspection and
strictly control the transport of sick cassava leaves from the infected area to
the uninfected area and prohibit the trading of infected cassava varieties; and
so on. At the same time, the investigation is need to early detect the cassava
growing area infected with mosaic disease on cassava leaves and armyworms on
corn plants and then instruct farmers how to strictly take preventive measures.
According to Dong Nai Department of Cultivation and
Plant Protection, in order to timely detect and prevent autumn armyworms from
spreading widely, localities are supposed to implement some of the following
measures:
For the areas that have been damaged by autumn
armyworms and the other areas that are being harvested, after the harvest it is
completed, collection for destruction of all the corn residues is carried out;
all the weeds around the corn-planting areas, it is necessary to pull up all the
weeds around the corn-growing places; and till and dry soil carefully for all
the larva and pupa in the soil to die or easily be destroyed by natural enemies.
For the areas in which corn has not been harvested,
it is necessary to regularly investigate worms’ harmful development. If autumn
armyworms are found, it is necessary to focus on the implementation of killing
measures; break eggs to destroy them; use yellow sticky traps with sex
pheromones, and sweet and sour baits or light traps to kill grown-up worms. In
addition, the places with a low-density of pests kitchen ash can be used or
diluted soapy water can be poured into corn kernels to kill larvae and it is
necessary to use green fungus products, white fungus, Bt bacteria, and NPV virus
like Ometar, Biovip, Vi-BT 32000WP, 16000WP, BT Xentary 35WDG, Firibiotox P in
powder form, Firibiotox C, Vis, ViHa, and so to spray as worms are still at
their small age; use such active chemicals Bacillus Thuringiensis, Spinetoram,
Indoxacarb, Lufenuron like Bitadin WP, Map - Biti WP 50000 IU/mg, Akido 20WP,
Radiant 60SC, Spinet 60SC, Map wing 45WP, Amater 150SC, Clever 150SC , Indocar
150SC, Indosuper 150SC, Lufenron 050EC, Match 050 EC, Caranygold 120EC, and to
spray insecticides in the areas with a high density as worms are mostly 1-2
years of age, and spraying must be conducted in the early mornings or late
afternoons.
For the areas that are ready for new planting
preparation, implementing and controlling the prevention of autumn armyworms by
using integrated pest management measures according to the technical process to
prevent autumn armyworms.
Duy Minh (T. Lien)