Concerned about the outbreak of forest pests, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has urged local authorities to enhance their proactive capabilities in pest control from the early stages to prevent the spread into larger outbreaks.
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Caterpillars damaging pine forests. |
Minister Cao Duc Phat also directed the Plant Protection Department to coordinate with the Forest Protection Department, Forestry Department, and the National Agricultural Extension Center to develop regulations for the detection, prevention, and control of forest pests; and to effectively manage the detection, monitoring, and forecasting of these pests.
The Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development in provinces and centrally governed cities must conduct local monitoring and forecasting of forest pests; guide and assist forest owners in prevention and control measures; and directly organize pest control efforts when there is a risk of widespread outbreaks.
Additionally, localities must strengthen integrated pest management practices, emphasize silvicultural measures, and utilize biological pest control products while minimizing the use of chemical pesticides; increase proactive capabilities to control outbreaks from the early stages to prevent large-scale spread.
In recent years, forest pests have occurred extensively in many regions, such as caterpillars damaging pine in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thanh Hoa, Lang Son, and Son La; caterpillars damaging acacia in the paper material regions of Tuyen Quang and Vinh Phuc; termites damaging eucalyptus in the Long Xuyen Quadrangle; nematode outbreaks causing mass die-offs of three-needle pines in Lam Dong, Kon Tum, and Thua Thien – Hue; locusts damaging bamboo in Hoa Binh; and caterpillars damaging protective forests in Soc Trang…
Notably, in Nghe An alone, as of May 2006, 6,107 hectares of rubber and pine trees at various ages have been attacked by caterpillars. In Nam Dan District, the caterpillar outbreak began in February 2006, with over 801 hectares heavily infested, and an average density of about 1,000 caterpillars per tree. This district has spent approximately 300 million VND on purchasing various pesticides and mobilizing staff to combat the outbreak for 45 consecutive days.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, annually, pest outbreaks have caused significant losses, not only reducing forest quality and resulting in the death of thousands of hectares of forest, with estimated damages in the billions of VND, but also leading to ecological degradation.
H.Yen
