Litchi stink bugs seriously threaten lychee and longan fruit trees. The Council of Agriculture and Tainan City Government today announced the integrated control of IPM and the precise application of pesticides by drones.

(Photo by reporter Wang Hanping)

[Reporter Wang Hanping/Tainan Report] Litchi stink bugs seriously threaten lychee and longan fruit trees. The Council of Agriculture and Tainan City Government today announced the integrated control of IPM and the precise application of pesticides by drones, as well as the release of flat-bellied wasp eggs. This year, the scale of biological control will be expanded. Bug beats bug.

According to the Nanshi Agricultural Bureau, Dongshan District of Tainan City is an important production area for longan in Taiwan. Currently, Dongshan Longan has a planting area of ​​1,387 hectares. In recent years, there has been a serious shortage of manpower, which has led to an increase in abandoned orchards, forming a paradise for litchi stink bugs to multiply.

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The central government and the local government work together to use biological control methods to control litchi stink bugs by using the entomogenic fungus Lavenderia. Today, demonstrations of drone egg-dropping and pesticide spraying are carried out.

Chen Junji, vice chairman of the Council of Agriculture, said that the control of lychee stink bugs should adopt IPM (Integrated Pest Management, Integrated Pest Management) integrated control strategy, and use a variety of control methods to reduce the density of lychee stink bugs in the field.

The Bureau of Agriculture targeted the extensive and abandoned orchards investigated by the Dongshan Farmers Association, the largest longan producing area in Tainan City, and carried out drones to release 45 hectares of flat-bellied wasp eggs. The drone can release more than 100 pieces at a time (1,000 eggs per piece) ), an average of 16,000 flat-bellied bees per hectare, once every 10-14 days, for 3 consecutive times, after the application, it will emerge in 1-3 days depending on the climate, and it is estimated that 720,000 flat-bellied wasps will be produced.

The Bureau of Agriculture pointed out that each small soldier with a body length of about 0.2-0.3 cm is parasitized successively during the egg-laying period of litchi stink bugs, and the cycle of reproducing offspring can effectively reduce the hatching of pest eggs and reduce the use of chemical pesticides in a friendly environment. An integrated control strategy achieves the effect of pest control and ensures the development of the industry.

Yang Hongying, director of the Agricultural Improvement Field in Tainan District, pointed out that the fungus that grows on litchi stink bugs developed by the Tainan field, Lavenderia, is highly infectious to litchi stink bugs. The precise dosage sprayed by the plant protection machine and the control application of insect-growing fungi can be successful. Achieve more than 90% litchi stink bug control rate.

In addition, the field has also cooperated with the Agricultural Drug Toxicology Laboratory to develop the formulation of Lavender, moving towards the commercialization of microbial pesticides, responding to the 10-year halving policy of chemical pesticides, reducing the risk of pesticide use and improving the safety of agricultural products.

Lychee stink bugs are a serious threat to litchi and longan fruit trees. The Council of Agriculture and Tainan City Government today announced the integrated control of IPM, and released the eggs of the flat-bellied wasp to defeat the insects.

(Photo by reporter Wang Hanping)

Litchi stink bugs are a serious threat to litchi and longan fruit trees. The Council of Agriculture and the Tainan City Government today announced the integrated control of IPM and the precise application of pesticides by drones, as well as the application of flat-bellied wasp eggs. This year, the scale of biological control will be expanded to defeat insects.

(Photo by reporter Wang Hanping)