punching in is still empty-handed
When the sunset poured into the Roc Cong Lim field (Nam Ba Don commune, Quang Tri province), Ms. Pham Thi Nga still wandered along the rice beds that had begun to turn golden. With a bewildered face, she pointed out the rice branches to see and pointed to the wrapped leaves, inside which was a deep layer of black feces.
"My family made 14 sao, investing nearly 10 million VND. Just a few days ago, I was busy but now I'm in the fields and see all the leaves burning. The whole field is golden, not knowing if any seeds will be harvested in this crop. Tears flowed into her but she didn't know who to complain to," Ms. Nga choked up.
Not far away, Mr. Nguyen Van Huu, a farmer in Bieu Le village, also sighed because the leaves were deeply wrapped.
"When you look at it, the fields are all burned. I sowed 7 sao, but more than half of it was destroyed by worms. The solutes are nests in each rice grain, the leaves are wrapped together, and they can no longer photosynthesize. I have to take the rice sample to the drug dealer and tell them to sell it to spray, Mr. Huu sighed.
Mr. Huu also said that this time people are suffering because the rice had just recovered from the flood when the small leaves were blooming. Households with weak elderly people and lonely people who do not have time to spray medicine are considered to be lost. "Last year I only saw the worms twice, this year it is the third generation. After pouring all my efforts into the fields, I ended up empty-handed," he shook his head.
Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Chairman of Ba Don Commune People's Committee informed that this year's small leaf-wreck worms are developing abnormally, appearing in the third generation with high density.
The Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Don commune informed that the commune has directed coordination with the Ba Don Agricultural Service Center and the villages to guide people to spray the right type and technique. But in reality, there are places where people have not accessed information or have purchased drugs of the wrong type, leading to low efficiency.
Warnings and technical solutions
Mr. Doan Thanh Hung - Director of Ba Don Agricultural Service Center said that the unit has forecast deep flooding from around July 20 and has recommended going to localities.
"By July 26, the outbreak of the worm, we had provided specialized medicine to the villages for people to buy. However, some places such as Quang Trung have suffered due to late rice and tea, re-sowing after flooding and fertilizing too much, causing the worms to thrive, said Mr. Hung.
The cause of the deep outbreak was determined to be due to unusual weather, heavy rain causing flooded rice to be re-sown, causing the growth schedule to shift with the deep ones. On the other hand, people buy medicine at a small agency, not enough active ingredients, and spray at the wrong dosage, leading to no results after spraying.
Mr. Bui Phuoc Trang - Head of the Plant Protection Department of Quang Tri province warned that the small leaf-shaped caterpillars are at the age of 5, preparing to spawn, from August 5 to 10, butterflies will bloom and there will be a new batch of caterpillars from August 10-15.
"Children need to check the density of (>10 children/m2 before spraying), regulate water properly, avoid excess protein and increase potassium. Prioritize the use of biological products, spray them 5-7 days in advance and ensure that the absorents are even throughout the leaves, Mr. Trang recommended.
According to statistics from the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the whole province of Quang Tri has had 3,158 hectares of Summer - Autumn rice washed away by pests, causing damage, with a common density of 10-15 pigs/m2, up to 200 pigs/m2. If there is no drastic prevention, the risk of widespread white blood loss is entirely possible.
