The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs in China held an international conference, with the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO), for preventing and
controlling fall armyworms in Asia in Kunming city, Yunnan province from
November 12 to November 14. More than 60 agricultural officers and experts from
UNFAO and eleven Asian countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,
Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, as well as
Vietnam attended the conference, discussing sustainable methods of handling
fall armyworms.
At the conference, officers and experts
from the eleven countries shared research progress and experiences regarding
preventing and controlling fall armyworms, analyzing the current and future
situations and challenges of handling fall armyworms so that they could come up
with better solutions.
Since 2008, fall armyworms have spread
throughout the north and south of Asia each year and 16 countries have suffered
from damaged farmland. As fall armyworms have strong fertility and eat various
crops, migrate quickly and infest widely, it is difficult to keep control of
them. Other difficulties also include a lack of clear indicators for the coming
of fall armyworms due to their unpredictable behavior, farmers’ lack experience
in dealing with the species and their lack of natural predators.
Asian countries develop strategies to
combat fall army worms
After sharing different opinions, the
eleven countries reached a consensus on preventing and controlling fall
armyworms and established an agreement concerning sustainable methods for
handling fall armyworms in grasslands in Asia.
According to the agreement, first,
cooperative detection in areas will be developed. Asian countries, especially neighboring
countries, should strengthen their cooperative detection methods of fall
armyworms, such as the monitoring of indicators for the coming of fall
armyworms. Second, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for exchanging
information. Through the monitoring of indicators for fall armyworms, the
International Plant Protection Convention and other information exchange
mechanisms, countries can share information including updates on fall
armyworms, preventive and control measures, and research findings.
Third, Asian countries should strengthen
the communication of regional technology by holding annual international
conferences, establishing technical training for preventing fall armyworms,
developing expert exchange groups to share ideas, opinions and experiences
concerning the prevention of fall armyworms, as well as advancing the levels of
prevention and control technology.
Fourth, the eleven countries agreed to primarily
use the method of biological control, which is to apply natural insect enemies
to control fall armyworms and decrease the use of pesticides. Fifth,
governments from the eleven countries should offer support to farmers with
necessary training and funding.
Preventative strategies successfully
curb damage caused by fall armyworms in China
At the conference, the eleven countries
also made a decision to set up a fall armyworm work group in the Asia-Pacific
region under the Asia Pacific Plant Protection Committee. Each country will
appoint one to two liaisons. China, as the first rotating presiding country,
will set up a department of secretary to coordinate the work.
In 2019, the corn planting areas in
countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos have been severely damaged by
fall armyworms. According to the incomplete statistics, the damaged area was
roughly 2 million acres and the amount of corn decreased by as much as 10% in
some areas. In China, around 1.1 million acres of land has been destroyed by
fall armyworms. Thanks to the effective measures from Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Affairs in China and the concentration on the Chinese authorities,
apart from a loss in southern corn farmland of less than 5%, other
corn-producing areas did not suffer any loss.
For more information on China’s crop
market, please check our Crop
Protection China Monthly Report.