In the wake of reports from Miaoli on Monday, a series of discoveries throughout Taiwan of crop-destroying fall armyworms have been confirmed by the Council of Agriculture (COA).
According to Yilan’s Agriculture Department, more than 20 worms discovered by a farmer in his organic corn field Monday had been confirmed as the highly destructive fall armyworm. The corn was destroyed and buried by the county authorities the same afternoon in an effort to prevent the further spread of the harmful pest.
Later on Wednesday, the insect was also confirmed by the COA as having been found in a corn field in Chiayi, the crop from which was immediately destroyed and buried. Fields within 200 meters of the corn field were sprayed with pesticides in an effort to wipe out the pest, a county official said.
Photo Courtesy of Chiayi County Government
照片：嘉義縣政府提供
According to the COA, two different types of fall armyworm have been identified, one that primarily attacks corn, and the other rice crops. Officials said the former could have come from China, while the latter might have flown from China or Vietnam.
Among the nation’s agricultural cities or counties, only Nantou County and Kaohsiung have not yet reported the discovery of the pest as of noon yesterday, the COA said.
The fall armyworm was first confirmed to have appeared on the Flying Cow Ranch in Miaoli County Monday — the first such case in Taiwan — after a visitor to the farm reported it to the local government. “It is imperative that we stem an all-out invasion by fall armyworms across the country, because they could create much more trouble than avian flu,” Council of Agriculture (COA) Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng said at a news conference Monday.
Photo Courtesy of Hung
照片：洪姓農友提供
The arrival of fall armyworms could reduce the yield of wheat, corn, sorghum and rice crops by 20-30 percent and impact 45 percent of the cultivation of those crops, said Feng Hai-tung, head of the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, on the same occasion. To counter the arrival of the invasive fall armyworm in Taiwan, the COA installed 500 pheromone traps in fishing harbors and airports across the country one month ago as a preventive measure, he said.
If the fall armyworm arrives in large numbers, sweet corn and rice fields on Taiwan proper and sorghum and wheat fields in Kinmen are particularly vulnerable, with potential annual losses of up to NT$3.5 billion (US$111.46 million), according to the COA. Since 2016, the crop-devouring pest has reportedly caused economic losses in America, Africa and Asia, including 18 provinces in China.
The caterpillars, the larvae of the Spodoptera frugiperda moth, get their name from the way they advance with military precision to destroy the leaves and stems of plants. Since it takes 14-21 days for the larvae to mature, the next 10 to 14 days will be crucial to Taiwan’s efforts to prevent the spread of the pest, Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
Members of the public are asked to report any sightings of the pest, with a reward of NT$10,000 for confirmed reports, by calling the bureau’s hotline at 0800-039-131 or uploading pictures to the COA’s Facebook account to facilitate identification and preventive measures.
(CNA)
繼苗栗縣在週一傳出發現「秋行軍蟲」的相關報導後，農委會已證實在全台各地都確認發現到這種摧毀作物的害蟲。
宜蘭縣農業處表示，當地農民週一在自己的有機玉米田內發現二十多隻蠕蟲，已於週三被證實是破壞性極強的秋行軍蟲。縣府單位當天下午隨即剷平田裡的玉米作物，就地進行掩埋，防止這種有害的昆蟲類害蟲進一步擴散。
週三稍晚，農委會也確認嘉義縣一處玉米田發現秋行軍蟲，並隨即剷除掩埋相關農作。嘉義縣官員表示，玉米田周邊兩百公尺範圍內的農地已噴灑殺蟲藥劑，以徹底消滅害蟲。
農委會指出，目前已鑑定出兩種不同型別的秋行軍蟲，一種主要啃食玉米，另一種則是吃稻米類作物。官員表示，以玉米為主食的秋行軍蟲研判來自中國，另一種則可能從中國或越南飛來。
農委會表示，截至昨天中午，全台「農業縣市」只剩下南投縣和高雄市尚未出現秋行軍蟲案例。
國內第一起確認秋行軍蟲的案例出現在苗栗縣的飛牛牧場，一名遊客在發現後隨即通報縣政府，成為台灣首例。農委會副主委黃金城在記者會上表示，務必要在秋行軍蟲於全國各地造成蟲災前徹底根除，不然可能會比禽流感造成更多麻煩。
農委會動植物防疫檢疫局長馮海東在同一場記者會中指出，秋行軍蟲可能會造成小麥、玉米、高粱、稻米等禾本科作物產量減少二到三成，並對這些作物百分之四十五的種植面積造成影響。馮海東指出，為了對付這種侵略性強的秋行軍蟲，農委會已於一個月前採取預防措施，在全台海港和機場設置五百個「性費洛蒙」誘集器。
根據農委會估計，如果秋行軍蟲大量抵達，台灣本島的玉米和稻田，以及金門的高粱田與小麥田將會受損特別嚴重，可造成高達新台幣三十五億元（約一點一億美元）的年損失。據報導，這種吞噬作物的害蟲自二○一六年以來已對許多國家造成嚴重經濟損失，蔓延地區包括美洲、非洲、亞洲，以及中國十八個省份。
秋行軍蟲是「草地貪夜蛾」的幼蟲，因它們如軍隊般精準向前推進，摧毀植物的莖和葉片而得名。由於幼蟲需要花上十四到二十一天才會羽化為成蟲，行政院發言人Kolas Yotaka指出，接下來的十到十四天會是台灣盡力防治害蟲擴散的關鍵期。
政府呼籲，民眾如發現此害蟲，可透過防檢局專線0800-039-131、防檢局防疫小尖兵臉書或防檢局Line@通報，並上傳照片、影像，以利快速鑑定與防治，經判定為秋行軍蟲可獲得獎金新台幣一萬元。
（台北時報章厚明編譯）
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