A green LED technique has reduced beet armyworm infestations by 40 percent and boosted spring onion production by up to 20 percent, the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute's Fengshan Tropical Horticultural Experiment Branch said last week. Beet armyworms have proliferated across spring onion farmland in Yilan County over the past few years, as climate anomalies led to reduced rainfall in summers, branch director Lee Wen-li (李文立) said.
© Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute’s Fengshan Tropical Horticultural Experiment Branch
Spring onion leaves nibbled by beet armyworms have holes or white marks, which seriously decrease their commercial value and cause huge financial losses, Lee said, adding that pesticides are not effective, as the larvae hide in the pipe-shaped leaves.
Lin Tung-hai (林東海), a grower of spring onions based in Yilan County, said that many agricultural workers in Sansing Township (三星) have refrained from planting the crop due to infestations.
"We used to boast 400 hectares [of spring onion planting area], but it is down to 150 hectares," Lin said.
Read more at Taipei Times