Nghe An farmers use drones to spray pesticides to control leaf rollers on a large scale

In recent days, the situation of leaf roller epidemic has tended to increase sharply in Nghe An. Professional agencies have urgently directed and advised local authorities and farmers to strengthen monitoring and proactively prevent pests.

Leaf roller epidemic broke out on a large scale

Leaf rollers and stem borers in the fields of Quan Thanh commune. Photo: Van Truong

The main cause was determined to be the unusual weather in recent times, alternating rain and sunshine, high humidity, creating ideal conditions for small leaf rollers to arise and develop on a large scale.

In Quan Thanh commune (old Yen Thanh district), Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tang - a farmer with more than 5 sao of summer-autumn rice said: "For nearly a week now, leaf rollers have appeared quite densely, especially in low-lying fields. My family had to spray pesticides right in the areas severely damaged by the worms, and at the same time closely monitor the situation to handle it promptly."

Staff of Yen Thanh Agricultural Service Center check the pest situation in the area. Photo: Van Truong

Not only Mr. Tang’s household, many farmers in neighboring communes are also in the same situation. The pest situation also affects the care work and production costs during the peak period of the summer-autumn crop.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, an expert from the Economic Department of Yen Thanh Commune, said that the entire commune has about 1,000 hectares of summer-autumn crop, of which over 150 hectares are infected with leaf rollers, mainly worms at the age of 1-3, nesting in the young leaves (leaflets), deep under the canopy. Therefore, prevention and control should be carried out early and at the right time to achieve high efficiency.

Quan Thanh Commune uses drones to spray pesticides on fields. Photo: Van Truong

Faced with that situation, Quan Thanh commune has coordinated with agricultural cooperatives to conduct zoning and use drones to spray pesticides. Up to now, the commune has sprayed more than 150 hectares, and at the same time continued to expand the area of ​​​​prevention, combining the treatment of stem borers, brown planthoppers and brown planthoppers with specific pesticides such as Vitaco, Prevathon 5SC, Virtako 40WG...

Mr. Nguyen Trong Huong - Director of Yen Thanh Agricultural Service Center said: "From the beginning of July until now, in the area under the responsibility of the center, including 9 communes, with a total summer-autumn rice area of ​​more than 10,000 hectares, of which over 500 hectares have been recorded to be damaged by small leaf rollers. The common density is from 5 - 10 individuals/ ^m2 , in some places up to 20 - 40 individuals/ ^m2 , mainly concentrated on the rice crop at the end of tillering - panicle differentiation. We have organized emergency spraying of pesticides on over 200 hectares and are continuing to deploy spraying to contain the epidemic and deploy synchronous measures to control the epidemic."

Some rice fields in Quang Chau commune are damaged by leaf rollers. Photo: Van Truong

In Quang Chau commune, leaf rollers are causing damage to a large area, forcing many farmers to urgently implement preventive measures. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai, a resident of this commune, said: His family cultivates 5 sao of summer-autumn rice, and is currently not only affected by leaf rollers but also stem borers. Thanks to timely guidance from the commune authorities, his family has sprayed special pesticides according to recommendations to prevent the spread of pests.

Ms. Dinh Thi Trang - Head of the Economic Department of Quang Chau Commune said: The whole commune has over 700 hectares of rice, of which over 550 hectares are infected with leaf rollers. In this situation, from July 13 to now, the commune has sent technical staff directly to the fields, coordinated with people to demarcate areas, and instructed them to spray the right type of pesticides at the right time. At the same time, people are also advised to combine technical care measures such as balanced fertilization, pruning, creating conditions for rice plants in the tillering - standing stage to develop stably, ensuring the yield of the summer-autumn crop.

Farmers in Quang Chau commune spray pesticides to prevent leaf rollers. Photo: Van Truong

Strengthening investigation, pest forecasting, and protection of summer-autumn rice

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Nghe An province said: "The whole province has planted more than 77,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice. Of which, more than 4,000 hectares have been recorded to be infected with the fifth generation of small leaf rollers (mainly instars 1-2) that are emerging and causing damage, including the communes of Quynh Anh, Quynh Luu, Quynh Phu, Yen Trung, Hung Nguyen, Dong Thanh, Yen Thanh, Hop Minh, Minh Chau, Quang Chau, Kim Lien, Van An, Dai Hue Do Luong... We have currently directed localities to proactively isolate and urgently spray pesticides to prevent the disease from spreading."

Nghe An Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection has also assigned technical staff to closely monitor the fields, coordinate with local specialized departments to directly investigate, monitor and guide on-site treatment for farmers. At the same time, localities are required to strengthen investigation, forecasting, early warning and appropriate prevention recommendations according to each growth stage of rice plants.

The Department instructs that for small leaf rollers, brown planthoppers, white-backed planthoppers and leaf blight and bacterial stripe diseases, farmers need to apply balanced and technical fertilization, absolutely avoid over-fertilizing or sporadically applying nitrogen. When the disease appears, it is necessary to spray early with one of the following active ingredients: Oxolinic acid (Starner 20WP), Bronopol (Xantoxin 40WP, Totan 200WP), Bismerthiazol (Xanthomix 20WP), Ningnamycin (Bonny 4SL, Kozuma 5WP), Kasugamycin (Kasumin 2SL)... The drug needs to be sprayed evenly over the entire field, repeated a second time after 5-7 days if the disease prevalence reaches 3-5%. Note that nitrogen fertilizers, growth stimulants or foliar fertilizers should not be used on infected rice areas.

With sheath blight, from the rice panicle formation stage onwards, if 10% of the rice stalks are infected, it is necessary to keep enough water in the field and spray with one of the following active ingredients: Validamycin (Jinggang meizu 5–10WP, Validacin 3–5L, Vida 5WP), Hexaconazole (Anvil 5SC…) according to the recommended dosage.

Professional staff of Yen Thanh Agricultural Service Center investigate the pest situation at the facility. Photo: Van Truong

It is forecasted that when the summer-autumn rice enters the final stage of panicle differentiation, the weather will continue to be unfavorable, creating conditions for many pests to continue to arise and cause widespread damage. In particular, leaf rollers, stem borers, brown planthoppers... are at risk of breaking out into epidemics if there are no effective and timely control measures.

To ensure the safety of summer-autumn rice production in 2025, Nghe An's agricultural sector recommends that farmers regularly check and visit fields, closely monitor major pests such as leaf rollers, brown planthoppers, stem borers, etc. to detect early and coordinate with specialized sectors for timely treatment.

Local authorities also need to do a good job of information and propaganda, instructing people to apply comprehensive prevention measures, increase the use of biological products, and ensure environmental safety. At the same time, make good use of the unmanned aerial vehicle system to improve the effectiveness of large-scale prevention.

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Source: https://baonghean.vn/nong-dan-nghe-an-drone-phun-thuoc-dap-dich-sau-cuon-la-tren-dien-rong-10302700.html