Mobilizing '3 houses' to eradicate white cotton fiber aphids that harm sugarcane

(Baonghean.vn) - Many sugarcane areas in Tan Ky district (Nghe An) are damaged by white cotton aphids at a high rate. To effectively prevent this disease, all "3 houses":Farmers,stateand businesses have entered the game.

In Tan Ky, nearly 200 hectares of sugarcane are infected with white cotton aphids. Photo: Phuong Thao

Nghia Dong commune has 227 hectares of sugarcane but 80 hectares of sugarcane have been infected with white cotton linters. Mr. Le Van Kim's family in hamlet 6B, Nghia Dong commune, Tan Ky district has more than 1 hectare of sugarcane but all of them are infected with white cotton linters at a rate of 30%.

These days, in addition to spraying pesticides, Mr. Kim's family also manually trims diseased sugarcane plants and clumps to burn them to ensure thorough pest control.

If the epidemic is not controlled in time, the area of ​​sugarcane damaged by aphids will increase rapidly and the risk of reduced productivity and output is very high. And that also means that income will be reduced during the sugarcane harvest at the end of this year.

According to the report of the Plant Protection and Cultivation Station of Tan Ky district, this year, white cotton aphids appeared early and caused damage at a higher rate than last year. The total area of ​​sugarcane infected in the district is up to 197.3 hectares with the white cotton aphid infection rate of 10-15%. Concentrated mainly in the communes of Nghia Hanh, Nghia Dong, and Nghia Dung.

There are many creative and effective ways to prevent white cotton linters in Tan Ky district, clearly demonstrating the connection between businesses, the state and farmers.

Currently, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has provided sugarcane growers with 1,500 liters of pesticides and 550 spray tanks to prevent white cotton aphids. In addition to providing specific pesticides, the Company also sends agricultural officers directly to provide technical guidance to farmers to promptly and effectively control the epidemic.

Spraying pesticides and cutting and burning sugarcane canopies infested with aphids is the current practice in Tan Ky. Photo: Phuong Thao

Faced with the danger of white cotton aphids, the Tan Ky District Plant Cultivation and Plant Protection Station directed farmers not only to focus on preventing and controlling sugarcane areas that have been infected with aphids, but also to regularly monitor and closely inspect to promptly detect new infected areas.

In particular, farmers should not add more nitrogen fertilizer, so they should increase the amount of potassium fertilizer to make the sugarcane stronger and increase resistance; clean the sugarcane fields, remove old, dry leaves, and create ventilation in the sugarcane fields. Up to now, farmers have sprayed pesticides on 147.4 hectares of sugarcane.

Mr. Nguyen Van Trinh - Head of the Plant Cultivation and Plant Protection Station of Tan Ky district suggested: "We request that communes and production units inform people because during this period, people are busy with the harvest, so it is necessary to inform people about the situation of aphids and send specialized staff to check and guide people on how to prevent and control them. We request that sugarcane companies coordinate with sugarcane growers to guide people on timely treatment and create favorable conditions to support materials so that people can handle it immediately."

Phuong Thao