Insects cut down on pesticide use
FARMS in Jiading District have introduced beneficial insects as a safer, healthier and more effective pest control option.
Seven kinds of insects are acting as guardians to fight off plant predators in 18 vegetable farms in Jiading.
Where the “good guys” are seen to be working, the use of pesticides is suspended.
At present, this type of natural pest control is applied to plants such as peppers and green vegetables.
Predatory mites, such as harmonia axyridis and amblyseius, play roles as predators of aphids, white flies and pest mites.
The insects are these pests’ natural enemies, said Ni Jiang, an expert at the district agricultural technology center.
Amblyseius barkeri eats the eggs of the red spider that poses a major threat to vegetables. When the number of red spiders is under 40 per 100 leaves amblyseius barkeri is more than up to the job and pesticide is not necessary.
As many pests have developed resistance to pesticides, the introduction of beneficial insects is a good way to improve pest control, said local farmer Cao Jiujin.
It not only reduces the use of pesticide, and labor and production costs, but also enhances the vegetables’ quality, he said.
Jiading is to further promote natural pest control and thus cut the use of pesticides to ensure quality and safety of agricultural produce.
Mechanization
At the same time, mechanization is being encouraged in Jiading, particularly at harvest season.
At a recent fair promoting the use of agricultural machinery in Waigang Town, the modern equipment on display covered almost every step in farming crops, including tillage, seeding, plant protection, harvest, vine processing and even soil sterilization.
One of the exhibits was a self-propelled rotary cultivator, less than 1 meter high, which was able to cultivate the soil, dig ditches, plant seeds and mow. In addition, the machine can be remotely controlled from up to 50 meters away.
The use of the machines can lead to substantial savings in labor and increased efficiency.
A leek harvester machine, for example, is the equivalent of five skilled workers. And a rotary cultivator needs just 20 minutes to deeply plow the soil in a greenhouse, a task that would previously have taken workers two days.
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