Farming experts and farmers have just met in Vietnam's province of Long An to discuss the results of a UN project to control brown plant hopper pest and other viral diseases affecting rice. Seven demonstration sites under the project run by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in several Mekong provinces have shown that the problems can be controlled without the use of chemical pesticides.
Ho Van Chien, a ministry plant protection official, was quoted in an FAO press release as saying, "Farmers are very happy with the results of the project. They have got good crops and saved money on unnecessary chemicals."
Speaking at the seminar, deputy agriculture minister Bui Ba Bong sought the FAO’s continued assistance with the problem which first broke out last year when brown plant hopper (BPH) and other viral diseases devastated a million tonnes of rice. Marjon Fredrix of the FAO Global Integrated Pest Management team assisted staff at the Plant Protection Department to draft a strategy to fight the pests and set up the field sites.
The key instrument is an electric light trap that allows farmers to check when the insects are migrating. They are then able to employ an ‘escape strategy’ by mass planting immediately after the migration. By the time the next generation of hoppers appears some 21 days later, the rice plants are strong enough to resist the attack. Farmers carefully monitor the crop for signs of pest and disease. Coupled with reduced seed rates and lower fertiliser use, the strategy has produced a healthy crop and good yields without the use of pesticides. Other farmers sprayed their fields eight times or more in an attempt to kill the pests.
"Spraying the crop may not kill the eggs of the hoppers which are protected inside the plant stems," Fredrix said. "And, chemicals kill the spiders and insects which are the natural enemies of the BPH." The increased incidence of BPH in recent times may, thus, actually be due to the overuse of pesticides.
Andrew Speedy, FAO representative in Viet Nam, said that responsible use of pesticides was everyone’s task to protect the health and environment. "There is a trend to go back to using chemicals, under pressure from salesmen and advertisements," he said. "Viet Nam has a long and successful history of applying integrated pest management for natural control of pests and this should not be forgotten by modern farmers."
Bong said rice output in Viet Nam would reach 36 million tonnes this year, of which 4.9 million tonnes would be for export. It is now being exported at US$292-312 per tonne, up $30-40 compared to two months ago. The price of rice is expected to continue climbing as global supplies decline. Last year the country shipped over 4.7 million tonnes of rice for $1.3 billion.
Vietnam News Agency
