Nghe An: Setting Pheromone traps to kill pests that harm onions

For over a month now, people in the coastal communes of Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong and Quynh Bang (Quynh Luu) have been looking for ways to prevent the damage caused by armyworms and green worms.green onionsMany preventive measures such as: Using 4 types of chemical and biological pesticides to spray but still cannot kill this harmful pest. Therefore, in some fields, many areas of green onions have been damaged by pests, with damage from 70 - 80% of the area.

Hundreds of hectares of green onions of Quynh Luu farmers are damaged by pests. Photo: Viet Hung

Faced with the situation of pests and diseases on green onions, the District Agricultural Service Center has experimented with placing Pheromone traps in the field of Hamlet 4, Quynh Luong Commune. Pheromone is a sex attractant that attracts adult pests and is used to forecast the situation and prevent some pests.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lien - Deputy Director of the Agricultural Service Center of Quynh Luu district said: "Arrowworms and green worms are very difficult to control due to their strong resistance to pesticides. In the list of pesticides, there is no specific drug to control them. In that situation, the unit proposed to the Plant Protection Center of Region 4 to support Pheromone traps for testing on onion fields to control pests. After a period of testing, the biggest advantage of using Pheromone traps is that they are not toxic to humans, protect beneficial natural enemies and the ecological environment, but still effectively control the population of pests that arise and develop in the fields, helping to reduce the number of times pesticides are used during the season while still ensuring effective control."

To prevent the worms from growing, the District Agricultural Service Center has experimented with placing Pheromone traps to kill female butterflies before they give birth. Photo: Viet Hung

Pheromone traps are placed on a trap hanger that can be made of wood or bamboo, L-shaped, 100 cm high, with a horizontal bar length of 25 - 30 cm to tie the trap. The Pheromone bait is bell-shaped and hung in the trap with its mouth facing down with a small steel wire. Inside the trap, use soap powder mixed with water at a concentration of 0.1%, then pour it into a plastic bowl or plastic box, with the purpose of letting the worms fall into the soapy water and die.

Through actual inspection in the onion field where Pheromone traps were placed, the trap attracted and destroyed more than 100 female butterflies; if one female butterfly reproduces on an onion plant, it can lay 500 - 2,000 eggs, which will develop into worms and destroy crops.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tue - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luong Commune (Quynh Luu) said: "The whole commune has 210 hectares of specialized vegetable growing area, of which 80% is green onion growing area. Due to pests and diseases, this green onion crop, people lost hundreds of millions of dong.

The commune will ask the district to support some more Pheromone traps to increase the ability to kill pests. Through the trial period, the use of Pheromone traps helps reduce the number of times pesticides are sprayed by 2-3 times compared to the fields where farmers do not use them, while still ensuring the prevention of pests (webworms, armyworms, tomato fruit borers, green worms that damage green onions). In the coming time, the locality will continuously apply them in all crop seasons to prevent pests.

District leaders inspected the fields to provide guidance and help people eradicate pests. Photo: Viet Hung

In addition to using the Pheromone trap method, the District Agricultural Service Center also deployed sweet and sour bait traps in some fields. The sweet and sour smell of the bait solution attracts armyworms to eat more before mating and laying eggs. When entering the trap, the pesticide will poison the worms to death. To make a sweet and sour bait trap, it is necessary to prepare 4 parts vinegar, 4 parts honey, 1 part water and 1 part alcohol. Currently, the district has deployed 10 sweet and sour bait traps in some fields; through inspection, each sweet and sour bait trap attracts 2 - 5 butterflies to fly into the trap.

By testing pest control measures, farmers in Quynh Luu district are continuing to monitor the model to find a way to replicate it; at the same time, people also regularly stay in the fields to take care of, prevent and protect crops using manual measures./.