Fall armyworm invades corn fields, all 5 cases confirmed as damaging and emergency control launched
Two more fall armyworm cases were confirmed on the 13th, both found in corn fields. One case was corn in Luye, Taitung, and the other was baby corn in Datong, Yilan. It was the first time a baby corn field was infested by fall armyworm larvae, but fortunately no adult moths have been caught so far. The Council of Agriculture has established the "Fall Armyworm Disaster Emergency Response Team" and issued a nationwide wanted notice for the fall armyworm, with a reward of 10,000 yuan, so up to 78 cases have been reported by the public so far, including in Yunlin, Taichung, Hsinchu and other counties and cities. At the same time, because experience in morphological identification has accumulated from several cases, the team announced that starting immediately, emergency control can be launched based on morphological identification results.
The emergency response team has met for days and requires local governments to implement epidemic prevention SOPs
As of the 13th, 5 fall armyworm cases had been confirmed. Through molecular identification, the first case was the corn strain, and the second through fifth cases were the rice strain, but all were found in corn fields. The Fall Armyworm Disaster Emergency Response Team met on the evening of the 12th to confirm the reporting process and also provided common host plants for inspections and reporting by various ministries and agencies.
On the morning of the 13th, county and city governments were convened again for a disaster prevention and relief meeting, requiring that before adult fall armyworms are found, a cordon line be drawn around farmland in designated epidemic areas for movement control, and that destruction be carried out by one of two on-site methods, "burning" or "burying," according to weather and terrain conditions. The field area must not only be sprayed with insecticide again, but also be fitted with additional sex pheromone traps. Only after 3 months with no trace of the pest can cultivation resume. Destruction of crops and fallowing are both compensated according to law.
Epidemic prevention requires spreading urea; if organic fields are hit, only temporary control within the affected range
Whether by burning or digging deep holes for burial, urea will be used for the purpose of killing insects and bacteria, but urea is a chemical fertilizer. If applied to organic fields, it may affect organic field areas. Zou Huijuan, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine of the Council of Agriculture, said that if organically certified field areas use chemical agents in coordination with fall armyworm prevention and control operations, the certification body will impose temporary control according to the actual scope of operations. Although the agricultural products produced temporarily cannot carry the organic label, this will not affect farmers' organic certification qualifications.
The Council of Agriculture recently issued an emergency announcement of 11 control agents, including: spinetoram, novaluron, flubendiamide, chlorantraniliprole, flonicamid, indoxacarb, lufenuron, Bacillus thuringiensis and other products, 11 in total. However, Zou Huijuan believes that what farmers need to do now is "not spray pesticides, but hurry to inspect fields." Once a suspected fall armyworm is found, it should be reported immediately and handled by epidemic prevention units, rather than spraying pesticides first.
Not a single adult moth caught; Inspection and Quarantine Bureau: it is not a problem with the sex pheromone traps
The Council of Agriculture deployed hundreds of sex pheromone traps for fall armyworm, but so far not even 1 adult moth has been caught. Is it true that there are no live adult moths? Or is the sex pheromone formula wrong? Zou Huijuan said the formula is correct. The fall armyworm spread from the Americas, and our sex pheromone is imported from the United States. There is no problem with the formula, so the current fall armyworm is still first-generation larvae. As long as inspections are dense and reports are timely, it can be quickly wiped out. Early detection and early epidemic prevention remain the top priority at this stage.