Locust outbreak hits Luang Prabang
manY hectares of trees and crops in Luang Prabang province have been ravaged by yellow-spined bamboo locusts and armyworms, prompting authorities to spray chemicals to prevent further destruction of the vegetation.
The Deputy Director of Luang Prabang’s agriculture and Forestry Department, Sivone vongkhamchanh, told Vientiane Times on monday the locusts first appeared on march 23 in the six districts of nambak, viengkham, ngoy, Phonxay, Phonthong and Pakxaeng.
a total of 1,698ha of crops were damaged in these areas.
authorities also detected sweet corn caterpillars in the three districts of Pakxaeng, Xiengngeun and Phonthong since april 29, and 24.1ha of sweet corn were damaged.
authorities are closely monitoring the areas for locusts to prevent an invasion by the destructive pests.
authorities and villagers are spraying chemicals and using white lime, salt and other pesticides to protect plants. areas where locust larvae were detected are being sprayed with chemicals to prevent further outbreaks.
Locust outbreaks mostly occur in areas planted with bamboo while armyworms are usually detected in areas with sweet corn crops.
Last year, locusts and eggs were found at 143 sites spread across 63 villages and nine districts of huaphan province.
Four hectares of rice crops in Phonxay village of viengxay district and one hectare of rice crops in Xiengkhor were damaged.
Over the past year, efforts to spray chemicals to kill the locusts have been thwarted by the rugged terrain.
in some areas, slash and burn agricultural techniques were used to destroy the insects instead of using chemicals that people feared would pollute the water supply and harm farming communities and livestock.
Locusts were first detected in Laos in October 2014 in Phonthong district of Luang Prabang province, before spreading to other areas, including huaphan and Phongsaly provinces.
Last year, armyworms found their way into nine provinces, including Oudomxay, huaphan, and Luang Prabang, vientiane, borikhamxay, Xayaboury and Savannakhet.
The total impacted area in the nine provinces was more than 92,000ha. more than 27,300ha accounted for 33% of the worst-affected sweet corn fields.
Oudomxay, Xayaboury and Xieng Khuang provinces suffered the most from this outbreak.