Cicada larvae 'break' coffee!

More than 40,000 hectares of coffee in the period for fruits in the Central Highlands suddenly yellow leaves, fruit drop, many trees turn on their roots because there is no root caused by cicadas. This is also the first time in many decades, when coffee has been sick, the farmers and the functional industry are powerless because there is no specific medicine .!

Insects are not afraid of drugs

Cicada larvae.(Photo: ND)

For many months, people in Di Linh district - the land that has been dubbed the ' coffee kingdom ' of Lam Dong province had to live in a situation of discomfort because of the cicada's cries and ears.

And yet, coffee growers in the areas of Tan Chau, Tan Nghia, Tan Lac, Tan Thuong communes, areas of Dinh Trang Thuong and Di Linh towns (Di Linh district) must live in anxiety because of goods. Tens of thousands of hectares of coffee are left and only a few months to harvest but there is a risk of loss due to the damage of cicadas larvae by the loss of roots.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (Di Linh district town) said that the house with 3 hectares of fruit trees has been infected with cicadas with manifestations such as: tree does not grow, yellow leaves, small leaves, fruit falls . He Hai has also used many different drugs to spray and spray coffee but still not effective.

Also in Dinh Trang Thuong Farm area, over 400 hectares of coffee farmers and farmers also share the same phenomenon, although the farm has used many methods of elimination but the disease is still not reduced. Many people like Mr. Thai Loc's family (Tan Chau, Di Linh) have lost VND20-30 million to buy medicine to kill this larvae but the money is still lost.

Some people have reportedly captured these cicadas directly to test each drug such as Pasudin, Phura Dang (insecticide used for rice), but these larvae when exposed to the drug still not dead.

Mr. Duong Cuu, deputy director of Di Linh District Agriculture Center, admitted that this is the first time that the disease has caused widespread harm in a large area, so there is no effective preventive measure. According to the latest statistics, the whole Di Linh district has 29,038 / 36,000 ha of coffee trees that are harmed by cicadas.

Cicadas spread widely

It is estimated that there have been more than 1,000 hectares in Thong Nhat commune (Krong Buk district, Dak Lak province) infected, but the people and the functional sector still have their hands.

Officials of Di Linh District Agricultural Center, Lam Dong are surveying the density of cicadas on coffee trees.(Photo: ND)

Meanwhile, the level of devastation and spread of cicadas larvae in Dak Mil district (Dac Nong province) has reached an alarming level. In Dak Mil district, there are 18,500 hectares of coffee trees, more than 10,000 hectares have been infected.

The most severely infected communes are Duc Manh, Duc Minh, Dak N'dr . Some places have standing dead trees. Some coffee growers here said, cicadas appeared from 11-2005, but it was not until June and July 2006 that they rose and proliferated at a very fast speed, density of up to 100 individuals / origin.

What makes the coffee growers here bewildered because they spend a lot of effort and money - on average, each pole has lost over 600,000 VND of medicine but cannot solve anything.

Just do a simple calculation, take the amount of money for 10,000 hectares of coffee contaminated by Dak Mil cicadas, the result is 6 billion but the efficiency is still not plump figure, if you give it to The affected area of ​​the whole Central Highlands is a huge loss for coffee growers.

Identify cicadas

Some entomologists said that although the cicadas in Di Linh have not been identified, however, the cicadas in Dac Lac have been identified with the scientific name Oncotympana maculaticollis of the Cicadidae family.

The common point of cicadas in the two localities has the following life cycle: one has a life span of 13-17 years and the other has a life span of 2-7 years. Adult females often lay eggs on small branches in each bunch, also called egg nests, about 10-20 eggs / nest, each female lays 400 - 600 eggs.

The time of exercise is 4 - 14 weeks depending on the climatic conditions, the temperature and the appropriate humidity, the hatched eggs fall to the ground and the larvae will dig underground holes 15–40cm deep and live for 12-17 years .

Coffee plants have been destroyed by cicadas larvae and have started yellowing.(Photo: ND)

Cicada larvae live mainly by sucking the root system of coffee plants and often emerge to the ground at night. In about 13–17 years, the larvae became veins simultaneously, during the period of April-May, one in July-September, and the adults grew to only 2-4 weeks thanks to stem resin. tree.

Mr. Tran Nhat Thi, technical officer of Di Linh District Agricultural Center, who directly surveyed cicadas on coffee trees in Di Linh, said the process of chiseling, biting roots and sucking the cicada larvae will makes coffee plants lose nutrition and develop slowly. Trees are no longer able to resist other diseases such as fungus and rust . at the same time resonating and easily dying, especially in the dry season without water.

Although the pathogen has been identified, there are currently no specific drugs on the market, not to mention that these larvae are located deep underground so it is difficult to destroy. Recently, a farmer in Di Linh named Dang Van Suu (quarter 8, Di Linh town) reported that in the process of finding out, there was a kind of Nitrogen drug 30EC that could kill cicadas. .

However, when testing, to achieve high results, it is necessary to beat the surface of the tub, this will break the young root system, affecting the development of coffee trees, not to mention many highland areas lack of water is difficult for spray.

Thus, while waiting for scientists to study and prepare special medicines to treat these insects, coffee growers in the Central Highlands still face the harms of cicadas larvae.

Oncotympana maculaticollis cicada (Photo: nifty.com)