Grim Situation of Major Pests and Diseases at the Wheat Ear Stage

At present, wheat in the Jianghuai, Huanghuai and other regions has successively entered the booting and heading stages, which is an important period for yield formation and also a critical period for the occurrence and control of pests and diseases. Affected by last year's warm winter, the base number of wheat pests and diseases in some areas is relatively high; recently, continuous rainy weather has appeared in Jianghuai and other areas, increasing the probability of occurrence of fusarium head blight and stripe rust, posing a serious threat to wheat production. Experts analyzed that wheat fusarium head blight shows a pandemic trend in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Jianghuai and southern Huanghuai wheat regions, aphids at the ear stage show a major outbreak trend in the Huanghuaihai wheat region, and stripe rust shows a moderately severe epidemic trend in eastern Southwest China, Jianghan and parts of Huanghuai, making the prevention and control task extremely arduous.

In response to the grim situation of major pests and diseases occurring at the wheat ear stage, in order to further advance the “Spring Disease and Pest Control for a Bumper Harvest Action”, and to push all localities to promptly implement various measures for the prevention and control of major wheat pests and diseases and for reducing pesticide use and controlling harm, the Ministry of Agriculture organized and dispatched 7 working groups, starting from April 20, to carry out supervision and guidance on the prevention and control of major wheat pests and diseases in 15 provinces and regions including Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan, with divided areas, assigned responsibilities, designated personnel and full-process responsibility. The Ministry of Agriculture required each supervision group to conduct on-site investigations of the occurrence of major pests and diseases such as wheat stripe rust, fusarium head blight, wheat blossom midge and aphids, track and schedule the progress of prevention and control, urge and inspect the implementation of the central finance subsidy project for unified prevention and control of major crop pests and diseases, and go deep into the front lines of production to provide prevention and control technical guidance. It also required strengthening daily contact with relevant provinces (regions and municipalities), understanding once a week the occurrence and prevention and control situation of major wheat pests and diseases in the supervised provinces (regions and municipalities), promptly grasping the dynamics and trends of pest and disease occurrence, and reporting existing problems in prevention and control.

At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture required all localities to also establish and improve contact supervision systems, focus on the “Action to Achieve Zero Growth in Pesticide Use by 2020”, organize capable forces, enter villages and households, go deep into fields, provide face-to-face and hands-on guidance to farmers in carrying out prevention and control, vigorously promote the integration of specialized unified prevention and control with green prevention and control, improve the effectiveness, efficiency and benefits of prevention and control, achieve pesticide reduction and harm control, ensure that the “Spring Disease and Pest Control for a Bumper Harvest Action” achieves practical results, go all out to “seize grain from the mouths of pests”, and strive to promote a bumper summer grain harvest and increased income.