More than 1,000 hectares of coconuts in six provinces attacked by black-headed caterpillars

In Cho Gao district (Tien Giang province), a workshop recently took place to discuss solutions to manage black-headed caterpillars that cause damage to coconuts. The workshop was organized by the Tien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the Cho Gao District People's Committee. Recently, the area of coconuts infected with black-headed caterpillars has been recorded to increase again.

According to the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center (Plant Protection Department), the coconut black-headed caterpillar was first discovered in Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province, with an initial infected area of 2.4 hectares.

By October 2024, this dangerous pest is causing harm in six provinces, including Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, and Kien Giang, with an infected coconut area of nearly 1,010 hectares. In addition, black-headed caterpillars have also been recorded in Tay Ninh. By October 10, the two localities with the largest area damaged by black-headed caterpillars were Ben Tre (594.7 ha) and Tien Giang (279.3 ha).

Tien Giang province has a coconut area of 22,400 hectares, concentrated in Cho Gao district (7,700 hectares), Chau Thanh (5,000 hectares), Tan Phu Dong (2,700 hectares), Go Cong Tay (2,500 hectares), and My Tho city (1,700 hectares), of which drinking coconut varieties account for 60%.

In April 2021, the functional sector of Tien Giang province recorded the first appearance of black-headed caterpillars in Binh Ninh commune, Cho Gao district, with a harmful area of about 5 hectares belonging to 15 households. Prevention and control work was implemented promptly and urgently, so pest density was controlled and did not spread. However, by 2023, the area of coconuts infected with black-headed caterpillars had been recorded on 37 hectares belonging to 81 households in the Cho Gao area. By August 2024, the infected area had increased rapidly to nearly 200 hectares.

Although the Tien Giang agriculture and rural development sector has proactively investigated findings, disseminated information, and guided prevention and control measures to people, the prevention and control effectiveness is not high.

Mr. Vo Van Men, Director of the Tien Giang Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, said that most coconut gardens infected with black-headed caterpillars are old, stunted, and tall, so it is difficult to detect and spray pesticides. In addition, under the coconut canopy is where people live and raise cattle and poultry, so chemical spraying will affect human and animal health, making it difficult to implement. Besides, a part of the population still relies on support from the State, so the effectiveness of suppressing the black-headed caterpillar epidemic is not high.

The workshop recorded six opinions on prevention and control solutions and research experiences of scientists and experts from the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center, the Southern Horticultural Research Institute, the Faculty of Agronomy (Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry), the Ben Tre Provincial Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, and Dr. Ho Van Chien, former Director of the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center.

Mr. Do Van Van, Director of the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center, said that there are three main measures to manage black-headed caterpillars, including manual, biological, and chemical measures. For the manual measure, when detecting pest-infected trees, damaged leaves should be cut off and destroyed by soaking in ditches or burning.

For the biological measure, use natural enemies to destroy catepillars or catepillar larvae. Natural enemies include bees that parasitize black-headed caterpillars and bees that parasitize black-headed caterpillar larvae. It is also possible to release Euborellia stali and weaver ants to attack and destroy black-headed caterpillars that damage coconuts.

With the consultation of experts and scientists, Mr. Nguyen Van Man, Director of the Tien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said he will continue to organize a mass campaign to prevent and control black-headed caterpillars with both chemical and biological measures.

For coconut gardens mildly infected with pests, infected leaves will be pruned and destroyed, and biological measures such as using natural enemies and biological preparations to kill caterpillars and larvae will also be applied.

For moderately to severely infected coconut gardens, use the active ingredient Emamectin benzoate combined with mineral oil to control catepillar density before using natural enemies. This process needs to mobilize people to implement it simultaneously, determine the correct age of catepillars to spray, and spray according to the "4 right" principle, ensuring enough quarantine time. In addition, encourage people to cut down old, stunted, and ineffective coconut trees.