Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company does a good job of pest control.

Sugarcane grows tall, people stay in the fields to take care of it

Mr. Nguyen Van Su's family, Vinh Thanh hamlet, Tan Xuan commune (Tan Ky) grows 1.5 hectares of raw sugarcane. This year's weather is sunny and rainy, so the sugarcane grows well. Currently, the sugarcane is in the phase of dividing the internodes, determining this as an important stage, so the couple sticks to the field to take care of the sugarcane. In addition to clearing the base of the leaves to create an airy space for the sugarcane to receive light, the family also pays attention to providing moisture and fertilizer.
Mr. Su said: “During the growing period, sugarcane requires high temperature and lots of light to have the standard length and diameter of the shoots. Therefore, we focus on clearing the base leaves and pruning the underdeveloped plants so that the sugarcane can receive the most light. During this period, sugarcane begins to accumulate sugar, so timely and adequate nutrition is added. In addition to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, we also add manure and potassium to make the sugarcane strong and less likely to break when the rainy and stormy season comes.”

Officials of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company stay in the fields to check for diseases on sugarcane. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Currently, in all the sugarcane fields of the sugar factory from Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Tan Ky, Nam Dan, Yen Thanh, people are focusing on taking care of the sugarcane. Because for them, sugarcane is the main source of income for their family, if taken care of properly, following the technical process, high yield, standard sugar content, they can sell at a good price, earning higher profits.

Ms. Tran Thi Ha, a sugarcane grower in Thanh Xuan (Thanh Chuong) said: “This year, sugarcane grows and develops well. The yield is expected to be high. If each hectare reaches about 90-100 tons, the income will be about 90-100 million VND, after deducting all expenses, the profit is about 50 million VND.”

Farmers in Tan Xuan commune (Tan Ky) stay in the fields to take care of sugarcane. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Synchronized solution to prevent white cotton lint

The stage when sugarcane grows is also the time when diseases appear.white cotton budcause damage. This is a fairly common pest in all sugarcane growing areas, especially during the period when sugarcane is growing (around August - October). They cause damage by both adults and young aphids gathering on the underside of sugarcane leaves to suck leaf juice. If severe, it will cause the sugarcane to be stunted and slow to grow, not only reducing productivity but also reducing sugar content. Currently, in raw sugarcane fields, white cotton fiber aphids have appeared sporadically on sugarcane.
To prevent the spread of pests, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has assigned raw material staff to stay in the fields and actively detect diseases with farmers.

When white cotton aphids are detected, they are immediately updated in the raw material management software, and the system will automatically send messages about the disease situation to sugarcane growers so that they can promptly handle it. Ms. Nguyen Thi Vinh, a sugarcane grower in Vinh Thanh hamlet (Tan Xuan), said: "Immediately after receiving information about white cotton aphids appearing in her family's sugarcane field, we went to the field to check, beat the leaves, collect the leaves that were stuck to the banks, burn and destroy them."

Staff of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company use technology to monitor diseases on sugarcane, typically white cotton lint disease. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Because it is still at a mild level, only appearing sporadically, the raw material staff coordinated with the people to handle and prevent it from spreading. “Two years ago, white cotton fiber aphids damaged many sugarcane areas, affecting productivity, sugar quality and sugarcane regeneration. Therefore, this year, we have developed a specific scenario to respond to this harmful disease, eliminating it as soon as it appears, not allowing it to spread widely - said Mr. Nguyen Sy Hai, Head of Raw Material Production Department, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company.

Accordingly, when the disease is mild, people will coordinate with raw material staff to manually handle it by beating leaves, collecting sugarcane leaves and spraying pesticides when necessary. If it appears in large numbers in the same area, we will hire a plane to spray pesticides on the affected sugarcane area. Accordingly, 1 hectare of sugarcane will cost 700,000 VND for renting a machine and 600,000 VND for pesticides. The company will lend this amount to people without interest and will recover it when people harvest sugarcane, deducting it from the money from selling sugarcane.

Currently, disease management has been updated on the company's software system. As soon as a disease is detected, we will turn on the tablet to identify which family's sugarcane field it belongs to, then send a text message to the registered phone number of the household owner. After just a few seconds, the household owner will know the situation, coordinate and eliminate pests in time, not to let it get worse, not to let it spread," said Mr. Nguyen Khac Hung, a raw material employee of the Company.

All information about diseases in sugarcane fields is connected by the company with the owners to coordinate and eliminate diseases promptly. Photo: Thanh Phuc

To limit the harmful effects of bed bugs, it is necessary to apply measures in an integrated pest management process in a synchronous and reasonable manner. Here are some main measures:

- After harvesting, collect and destroy all remaining sugarcane leaves and stems, and clear weeds around the banks to limit the spread of aphids to the next crop.
- Do not use sugarcane cuttings from fields heavily damaged by aphids as seeds.
- Do not plant too densely, regularly clean weeds, prune old leaves promptly, to keep the field airy.
- Fertilize fully and balance nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, do not fertilize too much nitrogen as it will make the sugarcane weak.
- From the time the sugarcane grows, the field must be checked regularly. If there are many aphids, use special medicine to spray and kill them.