Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: Control losses from major pests and diseases affecting autumn grain crops to within 5%.

According to the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, a national on-site conference on the prevention and control of major pests and diseases affecting autumn grain crops was held in Changsha County, Hunan Province, on August 19–20. The meeting analyzed and assessed the current situation regarding the occurrence of these threats and further outlined plans for preventive measures. The conference emphasized the critical importance of effectively managing crop pests and diseases, calling for intensified efforts and rigorous implementation of control measures to ensure that losses from major pest and disease outbreaks in autumn grain crops are kept below 5 percent, thereby securing a bountiful harvest and paving the way for a moderately prosperous year.

The meeting concluded that the outlook for major pests and diseases affecting this year’s autumn grain crops is far from optimistic. In particular, the “two‑migration” rice pests pose a high risk of re‑emergence in southeastern Southwest China, the Jiangnan region, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Jianghuai rice‑growing area, while the fall armyworm faces a heightened risk of resurgence in southern regions cultivating autumn corn and in northern areas with late‑planted corn—both developments warrant close attention.

The meeting emphasized the need to promptly and effectively implement measures for the prevention and control of major diseases and pests affecting autumn grain crops, ensuring that “four areas are strengthened and four aspects are fully in place.”

First, strengthen mobilization and deployment to ensure that organizational efforts are fully in place. Agricultural departments and plant protection agencies at all levels must prioritize the prevention and control of major pests and diseases affecting autumn grain crops, leveraging the administrative leadership role in organizing and mobilizing resources, coordinating command, and providing oversight and guidance. Responsibility for disease and pest management should be assigned at every level to guarantee the smooth implementation of control measures.

Second, strengthen monitoring and survey efforts to ensure timely forecasting and early warning. On the one hand, we must leverage the role of national regional stations for monitoring and reporting major crop pests and diseases, conducting systematic surveillance, maintaining close tracking, and submitting timely reports on the dynamics of major pest and disease outbreaks in autumn‑harvested crops, thereby ensuring unimpeded information channels and real‑time data sharing. On the other hand, we should comprehensively intensify field surveys to accurately assess trends in the occurrence of major pests and diseases, identify priority targets for control, pinpoint critical areas, and determine optimal timing for intervention, thus providing scientifically sound guidance for prevention and management measures.

Third, we will strengthen integrated pest and disease management to ensure effective control. We will fully leverage the role of specialized service organizations and vigorously implement “five‑unified” measures: unified organization and mobilization, unified technical protocols, unified supply of pesticides, unified application schedules, and unified control operations. At the same time, we will seamlessly integrate integrated pest and disease management with green pest‑control practices, promote advanced green technologies, give priority to highly effective, low‑risk, crop‑specific pesticide formulations, and substantially elevate the scientific rigor of our control efforts.

Fourth, strengthen supervision and guidance to ensure that all measures are fully implemented. Employ a variety of approaches and channels to disseminate and popularize key technologies for the prevention and control of major pests and diseases affecting autumn grain crops. Establish a system of designated responsibility zones with assigned supervisors, and during critical periods dispatch highly skilled teams to villages and field sites, going directly to the production front lines to provide on-site training and guidance “face-to-face and hands-on,” thereby ensuring that preventive and control measures are effectively put into practice and that technical expertise reaches every field.

The meeting called for addressing the frequent and recurring outbreaks of crop diseases and pests by comprehensively implementing the Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Crop Diseases and Pests, strengthening the plant protection system, and expediting the establishment of a workforce dedicated to ensuring the long-term, sustainable management of these threats.

Source: Global Times