Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Ta Van Loi (residing in Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre province) said that his family grows coconuts on an area of 7,000 m2. After discovering that the coconut garden was attacked by black-headed caterpillars, he spent 8 million VND spraying pesticides, but the worms still thrived. After more than half a year of being ravaged by worms, the garden was almost devastated.
Similar to Mr. Loi, Mr. Binh (living in Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province) said that he discovered that the coconut tree's leaves were suddenly wilting abnormally. At that time, he pulled down some wilted coconut leaves to check and discovered hundreds of strange worms hiding in the leaf sheaths, swarming to eat the leaves. "Although agricultural engineers instructed him to spray, because the trees were too tall, this method did not work. My family lost half of the coconut garden," Mr. Binh shared.
Coconut growers in Ben Tre said that farmers have a headache when black-headed caterpillars attack their coconut gardens. This type of worm makes cocoons and lives under the coconut leaves, making it very difficult to spray. The worms eat away at the green epidermis, making the leaves thin and dry. They eat old leaves, young leaves, and then the fruit, even young coconut trees that are just a few inches above the ground.
According to the report of Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee, as of November 2024, Ben Tre province has an area of about 80,015 hectares of coconut plantations. The area infected with black-headed caterpillar in November 2024 is 594.74 hectares. The cumulative area infected from the beginning of the year to November 2024 is 882.06 hectares.
Also according to information from the People's Committee of Ben Tre province, in 2024, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with the People's Committees of districts and cities in the area to organize the breeding and release of over 215 million parasitic wasps and parasitic larvae to contribute to controlling the damage caused by black-headed caterpillars. Mo Cay Nam district alone released over 62 million parasitic wasps and Thanh Phu district 18 million parasitic wasps.
As a result, by November 2024, the situation of black-headed coconut worms in the province was basically under control. In Thanh Phu and Mo Cay Nam districts, coconut gardens are gradually recovering 50-70% of the infected area, the remaining areas have been pruned, sprayed with pesticides and are in quarantine to release parasitic wasps.
Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee said that it will continue to direct the agricultural sector to advise coconut growers to proactively visit their gardens regularly to promptly detect and prevent black-headed caterpillars, preventing the trees from being severely damaged, leading to yield losses as in the recent past.
The black-headed caterpillar, scientifically known as Opisina arenosella Walker, originates from southern India and Sri Lanka. In July 2020, the black-headed caterpillar began to appear in Ben Tre and spread rapidly.
