Scientifically prevent and control autumn grain crop diseases and insect pests to regain the food eaten by insects

Scientific prevention and control of pests and diseases (extended reading)

Currently, many places are in a critical stage of growth and development of autumn grain crops such as mid-late rice, corn, and soybeans, which is also a period when diseases and insect pests are prone to re-emerge. According to monitoring, as of now, the cumulative area where autumn grain diseases and insect pests have occurred across the country is 1.15 billion acres, a year-on-year increase of 4%. Among them, rice planthoppers are more common than in previous years in the middle and late rice areas of Jiangnan and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Liu Jie, deputy director of the Disease and Pest Forecasting and Reporting Division of the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, analyzed that due to extreme weather such as typhoons significantly changing their migration paths and development processes, rice planthoppers have many migration peaks this year and the number of insects is large, and the short-winged brown planthopper adults see insects early and have a high proportion. If the weather conditions are moderately warm and humid in late autumn, rice planthoppers will occur 1-2 more generations than normal, and there is still a risk of recurrence after autumn.

How to organize scientific prevention and control to achieve "pests rob food"? Zhu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Pest and Disease Control Department of the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, said that in terms of crops, the focus is on preventing and controlling rice planthoppers, stem borers, rice leaf rollers, etc. in mid-late rice, corn borers, cotton bollworms, etc., and soybeans focusing on controlling soybean heartworms, pod borers, etc. We should follow the strategy of giving priority to prevention, comprehensive prevention and control, early treatment of small cases, and standard prevention and control, and coordinate the use of physical and chemical induction and control, biological control, and scientific and safe drug use and other measures.

Specifically, physical and chemical induction and control make use of the biological characteristics of pests, using insecticidal lamps, color plates, insect sex pheromones, etc. to attract and interfere with the behavior of adult insects, and reduce the number of insect sources in the next generation. In terms of biological control, autumn grain crops can use artificial release of Trichogramma, the application of entomopathogenic microorganisms such as Bacillus thuringiensis and Beauveria bassiana, as well as plant or microbial-derived pesticides such as matrine and azadirachtin. Experts remind that in terms of pesticide use, compliant pesticides must be selected in accordance with the law, accurately grasp the objects, dosage, time, etc., and take into account both prevention effectiveness and safety.

(Our reporter Yu Jingxian, People’s Daily)