Fall armyworms begin an early spring attack on
China’s crops
On March 6th, the Chinese
Agricultural Technology Center’s facility for measuring damage from diseases
and pests published a report on the occurrence patterns of fall armyworms
during the early spring. According to the report, the larvae of fall armyworms
have been discovered in 176 counties in the provinces of Yunnan, Guangdong,
Hainan, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, and Guizhou.
The total area of land that has been
affected with armyworm larvae is approximately 4.5 million acres, which is an
increase of around 650,000 acres compared to two weeks ago. It is estimated
that armyworm larvae still occupy approximately 3.3 million acres of farmland.
According to reports from the province of
Guangxi, armyworm larvae have been discovered sporadically throughout sugarcane
fields, while wheat fields have remained relatively immune to their threat. In
228 counties throughout Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan,
Guizhou, and Jiangxi, adult fall armyworms have been discovered, with dramatic
increases noticed near China’s border in Yunnan.
Experts
unilaterally agree that in 2020, the northern migration of fall armyworms has
occurred earlier than normal, and fall armyworms have appeared in more areas
than before. Furthermore, fall armyworms have become a greater threat to crops,
and efforts to combat them have become more difficult.
Fall armyworms prolific in southern China, expected
to spread northward
In a
year-round breeding area of fall armyworms in Hainan, all stages of armyworms
have been discovered, from eggs to larvae, pupae, and fully grown adults. At
the beginning of March, the coronavirus in Hainan was given a status as a level
three emergency and received the most attention from biologists; with the
coronavirus under better control, biologists in tropical regions are finally
able to begin research and control efforts aimed at the occurrence of fall
armyworms.
As the
air temperatures rise, corn and wheat will be shipped from the south of China
to the north for the spring sowing, and as crops grow, China’s fall armyworms will continue to multiply
rapidly.
According to a
report on parasitic insects released on March 6th by China’s Service
Center for the Promotion of Agricultural Technology, based on initially
collected data, the presence of fall armyworms in Yunnan, Hainan, and Guangdong
is especially large. The region of Nanfan in the south of Hainan, including the
cities of Sanya, Ledong, and Lingshui base their economies primarily on crop
cultivation, and the city of Dongfang is Hainan’s largest industrialized corn
producing area. As air temperatures rise in March and April, parasitic insects
will become more common and spread out, and their populations are sure to
increase.
Fall armyworms have recently become a global nuisance
Fall armyworms are a species of parasitic insect
originating from the tropical regions of North and South America which eats a
variety of plants. Fall armyworms invaded Africa in January of 2016, and within
two years spread out throughout Sahara desert and reached 44 African countries.
In May of 2018, fall armyworms invaded India, and reached Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka by November and Myanmar by mid-December. Fall armyworms have a great
ability to migrate across long distances and to reproduce at a rapid rate. Fall
armyworms pose a great risk of devouring crops, and controlling their spread
can be exceedingly difficult. Fall armyworms fall into two major groups, one
mainly eating corn, cotton, and millet, and the other mainly eating rice and
grass.
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