Weeping willow trees in Shafeng Park in Luohe City are injecting plant growth regulators. Photo by Wang Yu
China News Network Luohe, August 8 Topic: How does "China's famous food city" solve the "flying troubles"?
Written by Wang Yu
After the beginning of autumn, the summer heat has not dissipated, and the "famous food city of China" in Shafeng Park in Luohe City, Henan Province, with mottled tree shadows and willows nestled, has become a good place for local citizens to relax.
Recently, the reporter visited along the Shahe embankment in Luohe City and found that many poplars and willows have three or four brown "small medicine bottles" obliquely inserted on their trunks, which is no secret to citizens who often come here for walks, they all know that these "small medicine bottles" are to suppress flying.
On many roads such as Huangshan Road, Songjiang Road, Songshan Road, and Liaohe Road in Luohe City, the reporter also saw that the tall and thick "steamed bun willow" and "Mao Poplar" on both sides of the road were lush and lush, and there were also three or four "small medicine bottles" obliquely inserted on many trees.
Wang Zhi'an, deputy director of the Luohe City Landscaping Conservation Center, told reporters that the "small medicine bottle" on the tree body was injected with a pharmaceutical agent called "gibberellic acid", which is a common plant growth regulator. After artificial injection, the agent will spread to all parts of the tree with transpiration, inhibit the differentiation of flower buds, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the production of fly flots.
Fly is a natural evolutionary way of plant seed dispersal and reproduction, mainly produced in the female bodies of poplar and willow trees, with obvious seasonality and periodicity. In recent years, the "flying in the sky" has also caused many problems and become a "trouble" for many cities in China.
Wang Zhi'an introduced that the north generally begins to produce flying flops in early April, and the high incidence period is about 4 days. At present, there are 20,3 poplars and willows planted in the main urban area of Luohe City, most of which are females.
In order to solve the "flying troubles", since 2018, Luohe City began to formulate a control work implementation plan, labeling female poplars and willows, setting up mobile monitoring points during the flying period, and determining key prevention and control areas. At present, the city has formed a set of "physics + chemistry" governance model, and the effect is obvious.
The so-called "physical method" is to combine the maintenance and management of dormant period, moderate pruning of poplar and willow females to reduce the falling height and number of flying flots; The "chemical method" is to inject poplar and willow females with "sterilization needles" to reduce the number of new flower buds and inhibit the production of next year's fly from the source.
"Luohe City's 'suppression' work is a process of continuous self-exploration." Cao Xiaotao, deputy director of the Luohe City Administration, told reporters that in addition to the "physics + chemistry" governance model, Luohe City also formed a set of "three-dimensional prevention and control" models for thick and fluttering trees during the flying floc production period.
The "three-dimensional prevention and control" mode is to first use a high-pressure water gun to spray hard to shoot down the top flying floc, making it "unable to float"; Then use the high-pressure fog cannon truck to evenly spray the fly inhibitor in the middle of the canopy, so that the fly floc quickly condenses, so that it "floats still" and lands on the ground; Finally, the greening cleaning staff timely followed up to clean the landing fly to prevent "secondary floating".
So, poplars and willows are prone to flying, why not replace them all? In Cao Xiaotao's view, although Yang Liu Feifu brings certain troubles to people, its ecological benefits are irreplaceable and must not be "cut down".
He said that poplars and willows not only have many advantages such as easy survival, fast growth, thick shade, and resistance to pruning, but also poplars are tall and straight, with good shading effect, willow leaves late in winter and early germination in spring, which has a good landscape effect. At the same time, these two tree species also have significant ecological functions such as oxygen release and carbon sequestration, absorption of toxic and harmful substances, etc.
The picture shows the fog cannon truck spraying willow fly inhibitors. Photo by Xie Hehui
"In recent years, there have been many fewer flying flops in Luohe City, and the environment is getting better and better." This is the sentence that the reporter has heard the most from citizens during the interview.
Regarding the experience of Luohe in the treatment of flying flots, Tian Guoxing, dean of the College of Landscape Architecture and Art of Henan Agricultural University, believes that scientifically promoting the high-quality development of landscaping construction is the "optimal solution" for the treatment of flops, and ecological problems should be solved by ecological methods. Only by following the principles of "seeking truth from facts" and "adapting measures to local conditions and suitable trees in the right place", integrating selection, planting and raising, systematic and increasing the diversity of garden tree species, and improving the richness of species, can cities fundamentally reduce flying. (End)