Winter control of rice pests and diseases can yield twice the result with half the effort

In winter, rice pests and diseases are in a dormant state: pests stop feeding and pathogens stop infecting. If farmers seize this favorable opportunity to carry out control, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

1. Dispose of diseased rice straw. Diseased straw is the overwintering site for the pathogens of rice bacterial leaf streak, bacterial blight, rice blast and many other diseases, and is the main source of infection the following year. Before the end of March, farmers can compost diseased straw at high temperature, or process it as feed or fuel, which can greatly reduce the number of pathogens. For diseased rice straw that cannot be fully processed before the end of March, the spread of pathogens must be prevented; it can be moved indoors for storage, or covered on site with plastic film or other materials. It must not be stored in the open, and even less may it be used to roof houses, build sheds, wrap seeds, cover seedlings, or tie up seedlings.

2. Dispose of rice stubble. Rice stubble is the overwintering site of the yellow stem borer and some striped stem borers and pink stem borers. Therefore, for rice stubble in fields with effective pest sources, it should be collected and disposed of around the Spring Festival by picking, hoeing, digging and other methods. For green manure seedling fields, irrigation should be carried out during the peak pupation period of overwintering borers to kill the pupae. For green manure fields, plowing and pressing should be carried out during the peak emergence period of the second-generation borers.

3. Dispose of intermediate hosts. Wild rice stem is widely distributed in rice-growing areas and is the main overwintering site of the striped stem borer. Corn stalks and cobs are the main overwintering sites of the pink stem borer. Therefore, in early spring, cutting off wild rice stem residue level with the mud, combined with manure accumulation to dispose of corn stalks and cobs, and clearing weeds along field edges and ditches can eliminate the above overwintering rice pests.