Ministry of Agriculture Deploys Corn Armyworm Prevention and Control Work, Going All Out to Secure Grain from Pest Damage
According to this website August is an important stage for corn growth and yield formation in the main producing areas of Northeast China, North China, and the Huang-Huai region, and it is also a critical period for armyworm outbreaks. On July 30, the Ministry of Agriculture issued an urgent notice on doing a good job in corn armyworm monitoring and prevention and control, requiring agricultural departments at all levels and their plant protection agencies in relevant areas to base their work on combating disasters to secure a bumper harvest, effectively strengthen organizational leadership, implement prevention and control responsibilities at every level, intensify publicity and mobilization, firmly implement measures, firmly grasp the initiative in prevention and control, and strictly prevent sudden outbreak damage.
Armywworm is a major cross-regional migratory pest with characteristics such as concentrated sudden outbreaks and concealed damage. Once it breaks out during the middle and late stages of corn growth, it will cause serious yield losses. According to monitoring by the national crop major pest and disease forecasting network, in mid-to-late July, adult moth peaks appeared successively in the main corn producing areas of Northeast China, North China, and the Huang-Huai region. The moth population was significantly higher than the previous year and the long-term average, and recent weather with above-normal precipitation is favorable for its reproduction and damage. It is expected that early to mid-August will enter the peak period of larval damage, with high-density concentrated damage occurring in some areas.
The notice emphasizes that agricultural departments at all levels and their plant protection agencies should strengthen monitoring and investigation, systematically carry out adult trapping surveys, ovarian development progress surveys, and field egg and larva population surveys, fully grasp occurrence dynamics, clarify occurrence distribution areas, key control fields, and optimal control periods, promptly issue forecast and early warning information, and guide farmers in timely and scientific prevention and control. Ensure that the optimal prevention and control period is not missed due to inadequate monitoring or untimely early warning.
The notice points out that corn armyworm prevention and control requires strong timeliness and a high degree of organization. On the basis of vigorously promoting light traps and sex pheromone traps to kill adult moths and reduce field egg and larva populations, all localities should prepare emergency prevention and control materials, funds, and teams in advance, timely activate emergency response plans according to pest situation dynamics, vigorously promote specialized unified prevention and control, and especially promote centralized unified control with large-scale plant protection machinery to promptly curb outbreak damage.
The notice requires that, in view of the tight time and heavy tasks of corn armyworm investigation and control work, agricultural departments at all levels establish and improve prevention and control supervision and guidance mechanisms, dispatch capable forces during critical periods to key areas, go deep into the production frontline, investigate occurrence conditions, strengthen supervision and inspection, strengthen service guidance, and assist local areas in carrying out investigation and control work.