Pingtung County yesterday became the latest area to report fall armyworms, increasing the number of confirmed sightings nationwide to 52, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.
Since confirming the first sighting of the moth larvae in Miaoli County on Monday, the council has been ramping up measures to prevent their spread, as fall armyworms can wreak havoc on corn, rice, sorghum, cotton and eggplant crops, as well as cruciferous vegetables and cucumbers.
Fields affected by the larvae have been excavated and anyone who spots the pest should immediately inform the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, the council said.
Photo: Screen grab from Premier Su Tseng-chang’s Facebook page
As of yesterday, only Keelung, Hsinchu City, Nantou County, Chiayi City and Kaohsiung have not reported sightings, council data showed.
People who report sightings that are confirmed can claim a reward of NT$10,000, with the money available retroactively for reports filed after June 8, the council said on Thursday.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday promoted the reward on Facebook.
The council also announced a compensation package for farmers whose fields are excavated to counter the larvae.
Compensation packages would be NT$19,000 per fen (分, 970m2) of edible corn, NT$6,280 per fen for corn to be used as dairy cattle fodder and NT$13,000 per fen for corn to be used as fodder for other animals, it said.
The compensation rates were calculated according to the average revenue for each crop over the past three years, the council said.
Fall armyworms began affecting crops in Africa in 2016 and began spreading across Asia last year, it said.
They have affected 88 countries worldwide, it said.
As 18 Chinese provinces have been affected, the moths might have arrived in Taiwan on southwesterly airstreams, it said.
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