On April 17, cards containing Anastatus fulloi wasp eggs were hung up in longan orchards in Tainan’s Dongshan District. When the eggs hatch, 160,000 Anastatus fulloi wasps will emerge to suppress destructive litchi stink bugs (Tessaratoma papillosa). This is a win-win method that maintains an ecological balance while safeguarding the litchi, longan and nectar harvests.
Tainan is the main region for growing litchis and longans, having more than 900 hectares planted with litchi trees and 3,769 hectares planted with longan trees. After litchi trees flower and are pollinated, they form fruit and enter the small-fruit phase. Longan trees are currently in full bloom and the drought has caused them to flower more densely than in previous years. The Tainan City Government Agriculture Bureau says that litchi and longan trees are resistant to drought, so long periods of rainless drought do not have a significant impact on the size of the harvest, and the biggest headache for fruit growers in recent years has been litchi stink bugs.
Dongshan District has 205 hectares planted with litchi trees and 1,387 hectares planted with longan trees — the largest area in Tainan. The Dongshan District Farmers’ Association applied for subsidies for biological control of litchi stink bugs on 10 hectares of land. In the afternoon of April 17, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che went to the Dung Shang Mau Coffee Park in Dongshan District’s Nanshih Borough to inspect local industries and hang some Anastatus fulloi wasp egg cards on litchi trees.
Photo: Chang Hsieh-sheng, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報張協昇
Huang said that litchis and longans have in recent years been affected by insect pests that need to be controlled across county and city boundaries. He said that biological control, in particular, should be employed to reduce litchi stink bug infestation, ensure the quantity and quality of production and boost farmers’ income while being as friendly as possible to the environment.
Litchi stink bug infestation can be prevented by chemical control in the form of spraying insecticide, physical control by removing litchi stink bug clusters or biological control by placing Anastatus fulloi wasp cards so that when the adult wasps emerge they can lay their eggs inside litchi stink bug eggs and parasitize them, thus preventing the stink bug eggs from hatching. This method maintains an ecological balance by using predatory insects to control insect pests.
Agriculture Bureau Director Hsieh Yao-ching says that longans and litchis are important sources of nectar for honey bees. He says that using insects to control insects is an environmentally friendly method of biological control that prevents bees from being killed by insecticide while collecting nectar, thus safeguarding farmers’ future income from collecting honey as well as from harvesting litchis and longans.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報楊金城
(Translated by Julian Clegg, Taipei Times)
台南市東山區四月十七日在龍眼果園吊掛平腹小蜂卵片，孵化後將有十六萬隻以上的平腹小蜂來克治荔枝椿象蟲害，維持生態平衡並確保荔枝、龍眼、花蜜的收成達成雙贏。
台南是荔枝和龍眼的主要產區，荔枝栽種九百多公頃，龍眼三千七百六十九公頃，荔枝開花授粉著果後進入小果期，目前是龍眼花盛開，因乾旱，花開比往年茂密。台南市政府農業局說，因荔枝和龍眼都屬耐旱的果樹，久旱不雨對產量衝擊不明顯，近些年的荔枝樁象蟲害最讓果農頭痛。
東山區種植荔枝二百零五公頃、龍眼面積一千三百八十七公頃居台南市之冠，東山區農會申請補助十公頃荔枝椿象生物防治，台南市長黃偉哲四月十七日下午特地到東山區南勢里東香貓咖啡園區關心在地產業，並為龍眼樹親自吊掛「平腹小蜂卵片」。
黃偉哲說，近些年荔枝、龍眼深受病蟲害影響，需要跨縣市來防治，尤其得採取生物防治，減輕樁象蟲害，在確保產量及品質、增加農民收益的同時，盡可能對環境友善。
防治荔枝椿象蟲害，有採噴藥「化學防治」、摘除椿象卵塊的「物理防治」，還有放置平腹小蜂卵片的「生物防治」，利用羽化的平腹小蜂將卵產於荔枝椿象的卵內寄生，使椿象卵粒無法孵化，達到以蟲治蟲，維持生態平衡。
農業局長謝耀清說，龍眼、荔枝是蜜蜂重要的蜜源，為避免蜜蜂採蜜時因農藥中毒死亡，以蟲治蟲是一種友善環境的生物防治方法，並確保農民未來採收荔枝、龍眼和蜂蜜的收益。
（自由時報）
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