Large areas of acacia trees in Quy Chau have to be cut down due to wilting disease.

On March 12th, officials from the Quy Chau District Agricultural Service Center reported that many acacia plantations in the area have been infected with a fungal disease. If infected acacia trees are not detected and removed promptly, the disease will spread widely, causing mass die-offs.

Symptoms of wilting disease on acacia trees. Photo: Xuan Linh

The family of Ms. Vi Thi Thuy in Ke Le village, Chau Hoi commune, owns 1.4 hectares of acacia trees that have been planted for 3 years. Recently, while inspecting her acacia plantation, she discovered that many trees had wilting leaves and were subsequently dying en masse, but the cause was unclear. She reported this to the local authorities and officials from the District Agricultural Services Center.

"In our family's more than 1 hectare of acacia trees, about 40 trees have wilted, their trunks are dry, have many black stripes, and are dying. After being informed by officials that the acacia trees died due to a fungal infection, and that the dead trees must be cut down and burned to stop the spread, my family has been mobilizing people to cut down the trees for the past few days before spraying pesticides to prevent the spread," said Mrs. Thuy.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Linh, an official at the Quy Chau Agricultural Services Center, the wilting disease in acacia trees is caused by the fungus Ceratocytis sp. This is a dangerous disease that causes significant damage in acacia raw material production.

Currently, Quỳ Châu district has approximately 22,000 hectares of acacia trees. At present, acacia wilt disease has emerged, causing damage and showing a rapid increase in most acacia-growing areas in the district, especially in areas where acacia trees are planted in their first to third year. In some localized areas, the disease rate reaches 50-70%, such as acacia plantations in Kẻ Lè village, Châu Hội commune; Thuận Lập village, Châu Hạnh commune...

"The district's Agricultural Service Center is actively advising and guiding people to immediately implement control measures to prevent the spread of fungal diseases," Mr. Linh said.

Officials from the Quy Chau Agricultural Service Center inspect acacia plantations infected with wilting disease. Photo: Xuan Linh.

It is known that acacia wilt disease has been occurring in Quy Chau for several years now. However, many people are still unaware of the symptoms of the disease and lack awareness of thorough prevention and control measures, causing damage to the growth and yield of acacia trees.

To minimize damage and prevent the spread of acacia wilt disease, Quy Chau district is currently actively advising people to immediately implement preventive measures.

Specifically, severely infected or dead trees must be cut down, removed from the forest area, and destroyed (burned) to eliminate the source of infection. Simultaneously, localized spraying of pesticides should be carried out in the infected area, near the dead trees. In areas where the percentage of infected trees exceeds 50%, the forest must be cleared and destroyed in accordance with the law.