Gochang-gun Conducts Collaborative Pest Control at Optimal Timing for Sudden Pest Outbreaks

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jae-gil] Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk announced on the 20th that it will conduct collaborative pest control for sudden outbreak pests from the end of this month to early next month, coinciding with the hatching period of pests such as the brown-winged cicada (when more than 80% of the nymphs have hatched).

Sudden outbreak pests refer to invasive pests whose populations have recently increased rapidly, causing serious damage. They suck the sap of trees such as apple, pear, peach, and grape, weakening the trees and reducing the marketability of the fruit due to their excrement.

Sudden outbreak pests begin hatching from mid-May and remain active until October. Effective control requires two rounds of pest management: one at the early hatching stage of overwintering eggs at the end of May, and another during the influx of adult pests from forest areas in July to August.

Accordingly, the Gochang Agricultural Technology Center has established a "Climate Change Response Sudden Outbreak Pest Joint Control Plan." To quickly control the brown-winged cicada, which poses a significant threat to fruit trees, pest control agents will be provided to fruit farmers.

To enhance the effectiveness of pest control, the county plans to conduct education on sudden outbreak pests targeting fruit farmers in the region during town and township leaders' meetings and agricultural training sessions, promoting timely pest control and striving to prevent the spread of pests and minimize damage.

An official from the Agricultural Technology Center stated, "It is important to control pests with dedicated agents during the nymph stage, which has limited mobility (from late May to early June)." They added, "When controlling sudden outbreak pests, only registered pesticides should be used in accordance with the PLS (Positive List System for pesticide residues) to prevent pesticide drift to surrounding crops during pest control in orchards or forest areas."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.