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Jiangxi reaps early rice output of 6.6b tons
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-24 16:02 Despite the worst-ever
caterpillar pest, East China's Jiangxi Province reaped an early rice output of
6.6 billion tons this year, a rise of 24.9 percent over 2003 and or one third of
the country's total increased early rice yield this year.
Statistics from local agricultural departments revealed that about 4.33
million hectares of early rice had been victimized by caterpillar pest this
year.
In contrast, however, 1.712 million tons of early rice has been reaped from
insect-incurred rice paddies, about 1.067 million tons more than the province'
early rice yield retrieved last year.
Local agricultural experts owed the increased output to joint efforts made by
agrotechnicians and farmers in the anti-caterpillar battles.
Nearly 200 emergency teams, involving a total of 5,000 agrotechnicians, have
been sent to the rice paddy to help farmers tackle problems with caterpillar
pests, show incomplete statistics. And special courses were also offered for the
spread of anti-caterpillar technical know-how in advance.
To keep local farmers informed of the latest insect development, an official
insect pest alert, involving 16 issues in a year, was sent to farmers on a
regular basis.
Summarizing this year's experience, many agricultural experts held that local
governments should channel more money into the insect pest monitoring system.
Given no money has been input since the system's establishment in 1971, numerous
facilities could not function well this year, they acknowledged.
Due to high temperature in early spring and lingering dry spells in fall,
caterpillars bred and multiplied fast in Jiangxi Province this
year.
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