Stepped-up efforts in mid- and late-season rice pest and disease control to ensure rice production safety
Website news At present, mid-season rice is at the heading and grain-filling stage, and late-season rice is at the tillering to jointing stage, which is a critical period for the occurrence, development and damage of pests and diseases. In order to effectively control the damage of major rice pests and diseases and strengthen prevention and control measures, on August 20, the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Department of Crop Production Management, held a national on-site meeting on the prevention and control of major rice pests and diseases in Nanchang, Jiangxi, observing a demonstration site for green prevention and control of late-season rice pests and diseases, holding discussions on progress in rice pest and disease control, mobilizing and deploying the prevention and control of major mid- and late-season rice pests and diseases, further implementing the Ministry of Agriculture's action to prevent disease and control pests to win a bumper autumn grain harvest, and ensuring rice production safety.
The meeting analyzed the current characteristics of major rice pest and disease occurrence: first, a wide occurrence range; second, rapid pest population growth; third, rapid epidemic spread of diseases. Affected by favorable factors such as weather in the middle and late stages of rice, rice blast, “two migrations” pests, stem borers and other pests and diseases pose a high risk of occurrence and epidemic, and the prevention and control situation is severe. The meeting further clarified the prevention and control targets for the middle and late stages of rice: the treatment rate of major pests and diseases should reach more than 90%, the application area of green prevention and control technology should reach 18%, the area of specialized prevention and control should reach 27%, the overall control effect should reach more than 85%, and the loss rate caused by pests and diseases should be controlled within 5%. The number of chemical pesticide applications in the whole season should decrease by 1-2 times. The key prevention and control regions and targets are: in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Jiangnan, and Jianghuai single-season rice and single-double season mixed planting areas, focus on the control of rice planthopper, rice leaf roller, stem borers, sheath blight, rice false smut and rice blast; in the Southwest single-season rice area, focus on the control of sheath blight and rice blast (branch blast, grain blast); in the South China late-season rice area, focus on the control of rice planthopper, rice leaf roller, stem borers, sheath blight, rice blast and rice false smut; in the Northern single-season rice area, focus on the prevention of rice blast (branch blast, grain blast) and sheath blight.
The meeting required agricultural plant protection departments at all levels to: first, raise awareness, strengthen organizational leadership, make the prevention and control of major pests and diseases in the middle and late stages the top priority of current work, and implement prevention and control responsibilities at every level. Second, vigorously promote scientific prevention and control, strengthen field surveys, promptly grasp the dynamics of pest and disease occurrence, clarify key prevention and control targets and key regions, implement classified guidance, and promptly carry out scientific control. Give priority to microbial pesticides, natural enemy insects, and insect pheromones, and avoid using long-residual pesticides at the heading stage to prevent excessive pesticide residues in rice grain. Third, promote the integration of green prevention and control with specialized unified prevention and control, and vigorously advance the “zero growth in pesticide use by 2020” action. Fourth, widely carry out publicity and training to improve specialized service organizations' and farmers' awareness of major pests and diseases and their level of prevention and control technology, and improve control effects.
The meeting emphasized that mid- and late-season rice accounts for the bulk of rice production and is also a critical period for pest and disease control. Plant protection departments must always remain highly vigilant, and must not relax vigilance because the early occurrence of individual pests and diseases was relatively light and the control effect was good. They must act quickly, vigorously implement measures, and ensure the achievement of mid- and late-season rice pest and disease control targets.