Dien Chau farmers kill tons of golden apple snails to protect summer-autumn rice
(Baonghean.vn) - With many newly planted summer-autumn rice fields being eaten by golden apple snails, farmers in many communes in Dien Chau are currently focusing on going to the fields to catch and destroy golden apple snails.
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| Farmers in Dien Hoa commune (Dien Chau) catch golden apple snails before planting. Photo: Mai Giang |
In Dien Hoa commune, the snail density is as high as dozens of snails/m2So the commune mobilized all people to urgently catch and destroy golden apple snails. Not only during the day, people also used lights to catch snails at night.
Ms. Cao Lien in Hamlet 2 said that her family had 2 sao of rice fields that were harvested and planted immediately, but after only a few days, the snails had eaten everything, so the whole family had to go out to catch snails. At night, they caught a bag of 30-40 kg; after catching snails, they had to replant.
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| Because of their rapid reproduction, golden apple snails are a threat to summer-autumn rice in Dien Chau. Photo: Mai Giang |
Mr. Cao Van, who was catching snails in the field, also said: Seeing that the rice that our neighbors planted was all eaten, we caught snails before planting. There are so many snails, we can reach down and grab a handful, sometimes we can catch more than 50kg, but if we throw them on the edge of the field, it will pollute the field, so we bring them home to break them up for the chickens to eat.
This summer-autumn crop, Dien Chau district planted 9,200 hectares of rice. Although it is just the beginning of the season, there are currently about 1,000 hectares of rice with golden apple snails, with a density of 5 - 10 snails/m2;This density is many times higher in low-lying communes such as Dien Hoa, Dien Hanh, Dien Nguyen, Dien Quang, Dien Minh... Dozens of hectares of newly planted rice have been eaten away by snails.
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| In Dien Chau district, there are about 1,000 hectares of rice with golden apple snails, with a density of 5 - 10 snails/m2Photo: Mai Giang |
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phu - Head of Dien Chau Agricultural Extension Station, people are currently destroying tons of golden apple snails every day. The station encourages people to catch snails early in the season and continuously; they can be caught manually by hand. In addition, stakes are placed along the banks and scattered throughout the fields, water sources, along the ditches to attract golden apple snails to lay eggs, then catch and destroy these eggs. Golden apple snails can be used as animal feed or destroyed by burying them with lime, chemicals or smashing them.
