Preventing caterpillars to protect pine forests

Since March, pine caterpillars have grown strongly on thousands of hectares of pine trees in the districts of Nghi Loc, Yen Thanh and Do Luong... These localities are directing forest owners and forest contracted households to focus on spraying pesticides to prevent and control the caterpillars.

Present at the Tu Va pine forest area, Cong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) at the end of May. At this time, the forest owner, Mr. Pham Huu Tinh, is mobilizing human resources and means to spray insecticide to prevent caterpillars for 62 hectares of 32-year-old pine forest.

Mr. Tinh said: Caterpillars develop very quickly, so since the appearance of the unusual density of pine caterpillars, he has organized spraying of pesticides 3 times, with a budget of 105 million VND. Observing the ground, where pesticides had just been sprayed the day before, countless dead caterpillars as big as chopsticks, pitch black, lay scattered around the pine roots. According to Mr. Tinh, the reason caterpillars appeared in this area is because it is adjacent to the pine forest of Thuong Son commune (Do Luong), where there are caterpillars with a fairly large density, but the locality has not sprayed pesticides, so the caterpillars have developed widely.

Son Thanh Commune has 250 hectares of pine forest, of which about 30 hectares are being ravaged by caterpillars. Mr. Nguyen Tri Trung - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said: Immediately after discovering pine caterpillars, the locality coordinated with forest owners to buy medicine to spray when the caterpillars were young.

However, due to the strong development of the worms, about 15 hectares in the areas of Ru Bac, Khe May and Dong Ho have had their leaves bitten dry by the worms. The entire pine forest area of ​​Son Thanh is 20 years old and is in the stage of resin exploitation. Since the discovery of the pine caterpillars, the locality has continuously sprayed pesticides. It is estimated that the total cost of preventing caterpillars in Son Thanh up to this point has been over 100 million VND.

Pine caterpillars have appeared in Yen Thanh district since March. Nearly 200 hectares of pine forests in the communes of Cong Thanh, Son Thanh, Vien Thanh and Vinh Thanh have been attacked by caterpillars, with a density of 70 - 120 caterpillars/tree. Of which, about 50 hectares have been affected. These are pine forest areas in the resin exploitation period. If pests are not controlled in time, it will greatly affect the yield, even causing pine trees to dry out and die.

Immediately after discovering the pine caterpillar, the District Forest Protection Department stepped up inspections of the caterpillar's development to direct and guide local authorities and forest owners to spray pesticides in a timely manner. The pine caterpillar develops very quickly, and due to the characteristics of pine forests on high mountains, prevention is very difficult.

After nearly 2 months, localities and forest owners have invested over 300 million VND to buy high-pressure sprayers and pesticides to control the caterpillars. For the immediate future, localities and forest owners will proactively invest in the budget to prevent and control the pine caterpillars.

However, to better prevent and control the work, all levels and sectors need to pay attention and support to protect the pine forest area. In particular, neighboring districts with pine forests: Do Luong, Nghi Loc... need to check the pine forest, if caterpillars are detected, it is necessary to organize the spraying of insecticides in a synchronous manner, which will be more effective.

In Do Luong district, caterpillars are also in a period of strong development. Mr. Le Dinh Loi - Director of Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., said: The unit is currently managing 600 hectares of pine and 700 hectares of pine mixed with acacia, in the communes of Hoa Son, My Son and Bai Son.

Recently, pine caterpillars have tended to develop quite strongly on several dozen hectares. In order to promptly control the caterpillars, the unit has proactively coordinated with households to buy VBT - USA pesticides and used 4 high-pressure machines of the unit to organize simultaneous spraying, many times. In addition, to protect the pine forest, Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. has processed and burned the ground cover of 200 hectares of key pine forests that are susceptible to fire.

The most common caterpillars appear in Nghi Loc district. Mr. Nguyen Van Ha, Head of the district's Forest Protection Management Board, said: Pine caterpillars develop strongly in Nghi Loc from late April to early May, in the communes of Nghi Van, Nghi Lam, Nghi Dong and Nghi Yen.

Up to now, the area with a density of 100 - 150 caterpillars/tree is 2 thousand hectares, with some areas having a density of up to 500 caterpillars/tree. Nghi Loc Protective Forest Management Board has directed teams, stations, and households participating in forest contracts to organize inspections of caterpillar developments. In addition to providing 2 tons of pesticides, the unit also mobilized 7 high-pressure sprayers to spray pesticides to prevent and control caterpillars in a timely manner. The budget for preventing pine caterpillars in Nghi Loc this time has been nearly 1 billion VND.

Pine caterpillars have appeared in our province for many years. According to the experience of forest management units, pine caterpillars usually develop strongly in the first months of the year.

Understanding that cycle, localities have been proactive in preventing and controlling it in time. There have been years when the caterpillars have developed so strongly that they have burned down hundreds of hectares of pine forests, greatly affecting the growth of pine trees and the production of resin. However, to effectively control the pine caterpillars, all levels and sectors need to have solutions to organize and prevent them on a large scale.

Xuan Hoang