(Baonghean.vn) – Although it is in the tillering stage, many summer-autumn rice fields of Xop Nam people (Tam Hop, Tuong Duong) are currently being damaged by high density golden apple snails.
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| Xop Nam village, with over 3.7 hectares of rice fields, is one of the villages with the largest rice fields in the Tam Hop border commune. As a mountainous border commune, farmers in Xop Nam village often plant rice 15 to 20 days later than lowland communes. According to some farmers, after planting, the rice plants were in a good growth period, but many golden apple snails appeared and damaged them, eating all the young rice leaves and affecting the growth and development of the rice plants. Photo: Lu Phu |
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| Ms. Vieng Thi Lan - Xop Nam village, Tam Hop commune, said: "My family has 5 sao of rice fields, of which 2 sao have just been reclaimed, the rice has been planted for about 18 to 20 days, I went to visit the fields and discovered a lot of apple snails, the first day I was happy to catch them to feed the geese and ducks. A week later, no matter how I caught them, I couldn't find them all, I don't know how to kill them all". Photo: Lu Phu |
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| Golden apple snails appear densely and lay eggs on the stem of a rice branch. Photo: Lu Phu |
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| According to local people, due to the unusual weather, sunny days and rainy nights, it has created favorable conditions for the golden apple snail epidemic to thrive and develop. In a short time, the number of snails has increased rapidly. If we catch them manually, by catching and destroying them by hand, we cannot completely eradicate the epidemic. Photo: Lu Phu |
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| To limit the damage snails cause to rice plants, all households are actively going to the fields to catch snails. Photo: Lu Phu |
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| According to Xop Nam villagers, in 2 to 3 hours, a person can catch 10 to 15 kg of snails. Ms. Luong Thi Dao, Vice Chairwoman of Tam Hop Commune People's Committee, said: This snail species was brought back by a villager to raise in a fish pond about 5 years ago. However, this year is the first year that the snail outbreak has become out of control like it is now. The Party Committee and the commune government have also encouraged people to actively visit the fields, catch and destroy snails, but it has developed quite quickly, causing many people to panic. Photo: Lu Phu |
Lu Phu
