In June, the summer monsoon goes all the way north, crossing the Yangtze River and gradually approaching the Yellow River. Along with the monsoon, the migration trajectory of the fall armyworm, which has entered the cordyceps land, is also constantly moving north. Monitoring by the Disease and Insect Pest Monitoring and Reporting Office of the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center showed that in late June, three new counties were added to the fall armyworm in Shaanxi and 6 new counties were seen in Hubei.
With the gradual northward migration of the fall armyworm, the new year's blockade war also expands northward. Plant protection personnel in various places have already had a set of mature prevention and control measures, their mobile phones, real-time update the migration information of fall armyworm, after local discovery, immediately began to trap adults, monitor and kill larvae, and kill the threat in the cradle.
Thanks to China's huge and perfect plant protection system, and thanks to the experience of migratory insect control from Long Island to Yunnan, Hainan and other places in the past decades, as well as the research results of countless scientific researchers, fall armyworm has been controlled in the southwest corn area and the southern non-corn main producing area since it invaded China, firmly controlling the main harm of insects south of 28 degrees north latitude, and did not form disasters in the two main producing areas of Huanghuaihai summer corn and northern spring corn, and the actual harm loss of fall armyworm in the country was less than 3%. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) named China a "global model country for the prevention and control of fall armyworm", and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu suggested that China's prevention and control experience be promoted globally.
Not many fall armyworms can cross the Yangtze River
At about 6 a.m. on June 20, Song Liangdong, a senior agronomist at the Xingping Agricultural Technology Extension Center, found a fall armyworm in a grassland fall armyworm sex trap set up in a spring corn field in Dongjie Village, Maheng Street, Xingping City, Shaanxi Province. This is the first time that fall armyworm has been found in Xingping City this year, and it is about the same time as in previous years. On the same day, he reported the discovery and began focused monitoring in farmland across the city; A week later, on June 8, Song Liangdong inspected sex traps at the same location, and this time no fall armyworm was found, but he still did not dare to take it lightly.
In the hands of Song Liangdong, there is a complete set of fall armyworm prevention and control methods, the first to use is a variety of trapping adult equipment and methods, each female moth can lay about 1500 eggs in her life, up to 2000 eggs, trapping adult insects can effectively reduce the number of field larvae. After the larvae appear, a variety of prevention and control measures can be applied to "find a little, control a piece", and inhibit the spread and plague of fall armyworm in the first time.
Song Liangdong told reporters that on June 2019, 6, they found the fall armyworm larvae for the first time in Xingping City, and almost every year at this time, they must focus on monitoring and control. For five years, although it has been detected every year, the number has not been large and it has not caused widespread damage.
According to data provided by the Disease and Pest Detection and Reporting Department of the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, from 2019 to 2022, the actual harm loss of fall armyworm in the "South China Annual Breeding Area" was within 3%, the "Jiangnan Jianghuai Migration and Flight Transition Area" was less than 2%, and the "Huanghuaihai and other northern key prevention areas" basically did not cause harm losses.
More monitoring, prevention and control work has already been carried out in the south of China.
Push the threshold of prevention and control to the forefront of migration
China is located in the East Asian insect migration field, agricultural migratory pests are seriously harmful and have a long history, and the corresponding prevention and control research is also leading the world. As early as the middle of the last century, China began large-scale insect migration research; Twenty years ago, the Plant Protection Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences established the first Long Island experimental station for professional observation and study of insect migration on the Bohai Bay, an important migration channel, accumulating a lot of data and experience.
"The monitoring and control of major migratory pests was systematic before the fall armyworm invasion." Wang Zhenying, chief scientist of the national key research and development project "Fall armyworm catastrophe mechanism and sustainable prevention and control technology" and researcher of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said, "From the practice of many sites such as Long Island Station for many years, we have achieved many results, one of the most important experiences is to move forward the threshold of remote forecasting and prevention and control of migratory pests. ”
Fall armyworm is a global migration pest, "Around 2016, when fall armyworm first invaded Africa, Chinese scientists were already preparing for domestic monitoring and prevention and control. Zhang Yunhui, associate researcher of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, introduced.
In late 2018, researchers first detected migrating adults in Jiangcheng County, Yunnan Province, and in January 2019, local grassroots monitoring staff confirmed that fall armyworm larvae had been found in the field. This means that fall armyworm has invaded China, and at the same time, fall armyworm has been included in the important targets of monitoring and early warning networks in 1 provinces and more than 30,3000 agricultural counties across the country. "This is unique in the history of invasive biological surveillance." Zeng Juan said.
A tight insect control net was set up throughout the country
At the first time of the invasion, it was found that it was only part of the forward movement of the pass, and with the occurrence of fall armyworm in China, a complete set of strict and perfect prevention and control systems was quickly established.
Wang Zhenying introduced, "After discovering the invasion of fall armyworm, researchers first studied and clarified the migration route, where it moved into China from and how it was carried out, and at the same time, according to its migration law, predicted its migration route and migration into China, layer by layer defense, layer by layer interception." At the same time, more researchers are simultaneously studying the biological and ecological properties of fall armyworm. In October 2018, the year of its invasion, scientists completed the genetic sequencing of the fall armyworm that invaded China, determined that it was a 'hybrid type' dominated by the genetic background of corn, and accurately found biological and chemical agents that could effectively control fall armyworm. ”
In terms of information scheduling, seamless docking, unified scheduling, and wall chart operations have been realized for national monitoring information. On the national armyworm monitoring information scheduling platform, the occurrence of insects is reported every week in the occurrence area, and the new occurrence area is reported on the day of the occurrence.
"These ideas and technologies are not available before." Zeng Juan said.
Control the main hazards south of 28 degrees north latitude
"As a major migratory agricultural pest in the world, fall armyworm has set up camp and taken root in China after invading China, and what we need to do is to control it as much as possible and not let it threaten China's food security." Wang Zhenying said.
For five years since the invasion, fall armyworm has occurred every year, migrating north from the southern annual breeding area. The corresponding prevention and control measures are launched on time every year, firmly controlling its degree of harm.
Every year in March and April, countless insect radars arranged along the Yangtze River monitor the sky around the clock, and searchlights at altitude every few kilometers or tens of kilometers will light up on time every night, piercing the night sky with a beam of light as high as 500-800 meters, which can attract and catch a large number of adult insects. There are also trapping measures such as food attractants and sexual attractants on the ground to ensure that adult insects are minimized.
"Many of these experiences and methods come from the Long Island Experimental Station, which is established in the Bohai Bay Center and specializes in observation and research of insect migration." Zhang Yunhui said, "For example, high-altitude searchlights, also known as high-altitude detection lights, not only have the function of monitoring the flight of insects, but also excellent equipment for intercepting and reducing the number of migratory insects." The three high-altitude searchlights at the Long Island Test Station alone have captured about 350.5000 million migratory insects in two decades. On the four defense lines of our country's border, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Great Wall, more than <>,<> such equipment are arranged. ”
"From the current point of view, China's fall armyworm has been controlled in the area south of the migration transition zone, and the main harm of insects is firmly controlled south of 28 degrees north latitude, and it has not caused harm in the two main producing areas of China's Huanghuaihai summer corn area and northern spring corn area." Wang Zhenying said that that the main harm of fall armyworm is controlled in the area south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, making it difficult for insects to cross the Yangtze River.
Capture records support this conclusion, as the Bohai Bay is the gateway for most migratory insects to move from northern China to northeast China, and data from the Long Island Experimental Station in the center of Bohai Bay shows that only about 150 fall armyworms have been caught here each year in recent years. And farther north along the Great Wall Line, fewer fall armyworms are caught.
China's prevention and control experience is spreading to the world
Native to the Americas, fall armyworm first appeared in Africa in 2016, then spread rapidly, has now migrated and spread to many parts of the world, and has now become a major agricultural pest threatening the world, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has issued many special warnings.
The practice and results of the prevention and control of fall armyworm in China have been widely recognized by relevant countries and international organizations, "creating a model for cross-border and cross-regional migratory pests and epidemic disease control, and providing Chinese experience." Zeng Juan said.
Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has publicly stated that China's fall armyworm has achieved outstanding results in monitoring and control, and suggested that it be promoted globally. In November 2019, the Asian Regional International Symposium on the Monitoring and Control of Fall Armyworm was held in Kunming, and 11 Asian countries reached a consensus on the prevention and control of Fall armyworm in Kunming, and China was the first rotating chairmanship. In December of the same year, in the global fall armyworm prevention and control operation launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, China was selected as a regional model country in Northeast Asia and one of the eight demonstration countries in the world. It is understood that China actively participates in the local grassland fall armyworm prevention and control work in Southeast Asia, which not only helps the local plant protection department improve its prevention and control capabilities, but is actually equivalent to moving the threshold of China's national defense and control forward, reducing the local insect source base, and reducing China's prevention and control pressure.
China's experience continues to influence more countries. In November 2022, at the China-Southeast Asia Cross-border Pest Joint Prevention and Control International Symposium held in Kunming, China, officials and scholars from Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and other countries highly affirmed and appreciated the prevention and control of fall armyworm in China, and hoped to carry out prevention and control cooperation or provide technical assistance. (Beijing News reporter Zhou Huaizong)