A type of small wasp might be introduced to combat an influx of fall armyworms, the Council of Agriculture said on Monday.
The crop-destroying fall armyworm was first found on a Miaoli County farm last month and has since spread to other areas.
Trichogramma are important biological control agents, as they lay their eggs within the eggs of other insects.
Photo: CNA
Preliminary testing with three Trichogramma species have been successful, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Feng Hai-tung (馮海東) said, adding that if field trials are also successful, the measures would be introduced.
From June 8 to Monday, 206 fall armyworm sightings had been reported across the nation, excluding Chiayi County, where there were no sightings, council Deputy Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said.
Of the 118 sightings of mature fall armyworm moths, the council has killed larvae or moths in 81 sightings and prescribed preventive measures for 122, while the remaining three have yet to be handled, he added.
However, the total affected crop area is below the 20 percent level predicted by studies from other nations, with only 64.17 hectares, or 1.22 percent, of the total 5,279 hectares of cornfields affected, Chen added.
Fall armyworms have not been found during inspections of crops such as sweet potatoes, grazing grass, peanuts, wheat, sorghum or sugarcane, while rice paddies, sweet potato patches and grass fields near affected areas are also devoid of armyworm larvae, he said.
Chen urged farmers to be vigilant and report sightings to the bureau as soon as possible, as fall armyworms could infest other crops.
Crop rotation and thoroughly flooding a field after turning the soil are the best preventive measures, Chen said, adding that flooding would prevent most larvae from hatching.
Eleven council-approved pesticides are still effective, although they should be cycled to prevent the armyworms developing resistance or immunity, Chen said.
The council is working to approve more pesticides, Chen said, adding that consistent updates would be posted on the council’s Web site.
The council is to provide a comprehensive pest management template before embarking on the third stage of pest control management, in which farmers would be responsible for managing their own fields, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS