Fall armyworm moths arrive in Miaoli on air currents and invade China: what harm do they cause?
Fall armyworm larvae have appeared in Taiwan! Last Saturday, the Council of Agriculture received a report that suspected fall armyworm larvae were found on the forage corn at Flying Cow Ranch in Miaoli County. Personnel were dispatched to conduct an on-site inspection. After morphological identification and gene sequencing, experts confirmed that they were indeed fall armyworm. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine of the Council of Agriculture immediately launched eradication measures, uprooting the forage corn, adding calcium cyanamide fertilizer and deeply burying it. However, the sex pheromone trap facilities set up by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine have so far not detected any adults. Because only larvae have been found on corn so far, there is still hope of stopping the fall armyworm from spreading across Taiwan.
In addition to the confirmed case at Flying Cow Ranch, on the 10th reports of suspected insects were also received from Toucheng Township in Yilan County and Yizhu Township in Chiayi County. Samples have been collected and sent for DNA identification. From central and southern Taiwan to northeastern Taiwan, along with the southwest airflow, they not only flew across the sea but also crossed mountain ridges. After traces of fall armyworm larvae were discovered, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine immediately established a fall armyworm disaster emergency response team, and agricultural bureaus in each county and city also set up monitoring teams. The first meeting will be held on the 11th to establish operating procedures for disaster forecasting, alerts, disaster information collection and reporting.
The first case of fall armyworm larvae invading Taiwan was at Flying Cow Ranch, but it was not found in the fields; rather, it was at the sales area of the animal feeding zone, where visitors buy forage corn to feed the cows. Members of the public found suspected fall armyworm larvae on the forage corn sold at the ranch and reported it. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine dispatched personnel together with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, the Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and the Miaoli County Government to conduct an on-site inspection. During the on-site inspection on the 8th, sex pheromone traps were also hung at the site; if adults were found, they could be immediately trapped and killed. However, none have been captured so far. At the same time, experts also inspected surrounding host plants (corn) and did not find anything further.
To prevent the fall armyworm from spreading starting from Flying Cow Ranch, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine delineated an epidemic area, uprooted and destroyed all crops in the affected field area, and provided compensation. The method of uprooting and destruction was to uproot all the forage corn in the field area, add calcium cyanamide fertilizer (calcium cyanamide), which releases cyanide when it meets water and can sterilize and kill insects, and then bury it deeply 2 m underground, which was determined to be able to kill the fall armyworm. However, calcium cyanamide fertilizer is a chemical fertilizer, and organic fields cannot use chemical fertilizers. If the fall armyworm harms organic corn fields, how should it be handled? The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said this issue needs further discussion with experts.
There are pesticides that can control the fall armyworm. To urgently control the fall armyworm found on corn, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine announced emergency control pesticides on the 10th, including: spinetoram, novaluron, metaflumizone, chlorantraniliprole, flubendiamide, indoxacarb, lufenuron, Bacillus thuringiensis and others, 11 products in total. In fact, pesticides that can be used to kill noctuid moths can all be used; there were originally more than 50 kinds, but after excluding items to which the fall armyworm has developed resistance, only these 11 are permitted. Among them, only Bacillus thuringiensis is a biological pesticide and is the only control pesticide that can be used in organic farming to control the fall armyworm.
The fall armyworm is an agricultural pest with severe international impact. It mainly damages: corn, rice, sorghum, cotton, cruciferous crops, cucurbit crops, solanaceous crops and other economic crops. In Asia, 8 countries have already been affected: Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Yemen, and Indonesia. Taiwan is in grave danger.
This is it! The first case of fall armyworm larvae found in Taiwan.
Larvae and adults of the fall armyworm