Spring Disease and Pest Control for a Bumper Harvest: Ministry of Agriculture Launches Special Action
According to monitoring by the National Major Crop Disease and Pest Forecasting Network, affected by the warm winter, the incidence base of diseases and pests on summer-harvest grain and oil crops such as wheat and rapeseed this year is higher than in normal years, and the occurrence time is earlier than in normal years. As temperatures rise, a variety of major diseases and pests will successively enter the peak period of occurrence and damage, which is also the critical period for prevention and control. To achieve “snatching grain from the mouths of pests” and ensure a bumper harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture recently launched the Spring Disease and Pest Control for a Bumper Harvest Action.
The spring disease and pest control action aims to prevent disease and control pests, safeguard production and increase income, and reduce losses and increase efficiency. With the implementation of the wheat “one spray, three preventions” and the major crop disease and pest unified prevention and control subsidy projects as the starting points, it will effectively strengthen disease and pest monitoring and early warning, release disease and pest information in a timely manner, vigorously promote unified prevention and control and green prevention and control, carry out emergency control at the appropriate time, and minimize losses from disease and pest damage. It strives to keep the loss rate from major diseases and pests on summer grain and oil crops such as wheat and rapeseed within 5%, and achieve a specialized unified prevention and control coverage rate of more than 32%, so as to achieve “snatching grain from the mouths of pests” and ensure a bumper harvest. Four key tasks are highlighted.
First, strengthen joint monitoring and early warning. Based on the occurrence patterns and damage characteristics of major diseases and pests on summer grain and oil crops such as wheat and rapeseed, and on the basis of organizing all localities to comprehensively strengthen field surveys, give play to the role of the national 362 wheat and 81 rapeseed major disease and pest regional forecasting stations, systematically monitor, closely track, and accurately grasp the dynamics of major disease and pest population changes, conduct accurate consultations, and release forecast and early warning information in a timely manner, clarify the key targets, key regions, and optimal periods for prevention and control, and scientifically guide prevention and control actions.
Second, highlight regional prevention and control priorities. In the Southwest wheat region, focus on strengthening the prevention and control of stripe rust and aphids at the heading stage, while also carrying out powdery mildew control and Fusarium head blight prevention; in the Jianghuai wheat region, vigorously tackle Fusarium head blight prevention, while also carrying out sheath blight and aphid control at the heading stage; in the Han River basin wheat region, strictly prevent epidemics of stripe rust and Fusarium head blight, while also carrying out powdery mildew and aphid control at the heading stage; in the Huang-Huai-Hai wheat region, focus on strengthening aphid and sheath blight control, while also carrying out stripe rust, Fusarium head blight, and wheat midge control; in the Northwest wheat region, focus on strengthening stripe rust and aphid control at the heading stage, while also carrying out powdery mildew and wheat spider control. In rapeseed-producing areas, focus on Sclerotinia stem rot control, while also carrying out control of aphids and other diseases and pests.
⟦NL> Third, implement key prevention and control measures. For wheat stripe rust, vigorously apply the approach of “scouting with fungicide on hand, treating a whole field when a single spot is found” to protect the whole area by treating spots, and strictly prevent large-scale spread and epidemic; in areas where wheat Fusarium head blight frequently occurs, adhere unswervingly to “prevention first, proactive attack, spray when flowers appear” to ensure control before occurrence and spread; for aphids, highlight “moving the threshold forward and suppressing the early to control the later” to reduce the base population, and strictly prevent outbreaks at the heading stage; for wheat midge, focus on strengthening control during the pupal stage and early adult emergence to minimize damage. For rapeseed Sclerotinia stem rot, fully implement preventive and control measures at the initial flowering stage to ensure no serious losses are caused.
⟦NL> Fourth, promote the integration of unified prevention and control with green prevention and control. Deeply carry out the specialized unified prevention and control “hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands action,” and support the development of a group of standardized unified prevention and control teams that can be mobilized, are useful, and can win. Give play to the advantages of unified prevention and control in its high degree of organization and good control results, and the advantages of green prevention and control in ecological compatibility and environmental friendliness, promote the integrated development of the two, implement comprehensive management, steadily improve the capacity and level of scientific disease prevention and pest control, achieve reduced use and controlled damage, and promote zero growth in pesticide use.⟦NL>⟦NL> To ensure the smooth implementation of the spring disease and pest control action, the Ministry of Agriculture requires agricultural departments at all levels to strengthen administrative promotion, increase funding support, provide good guidance services, strengthen pesticide supervision, and reinforce supervision and inspection, so as to ensure that prevention and control measures are put in place, resolutely curb outbreaks and epidemics of diseases and pests, and make every effort to secure a bumper harvest of summer grain and oil crops.
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