Aphids are pests of the superfamily Aphidoidea in the order Hemiptera. There are many species, with more than 4,700 known species in the world, which is the most species among pests. They have the characteristics of fast reproduction, strong reproductive capacity, and serious harm.
The harm of aphids is divided into direct harm and indirect harm. Direct harm is that adults and nymphs suck the juice of plants, causing leaf curling, tender stems twisting, growth point necrosis, and reduced yield. Indirect harm is that aphids can spread a variety of viral diseases while causing direct harm, causing slow plant growth, yellowing and deformation of leaves, and causing more serious harm.
Aphids have a wide range of harm, mainly harming wheat, corn, cotton, rapeseed, hemp, tea trees, sugarcane, green vegetables, tobacco, fruit trees and other economic plants. And aphids reproduce quickly, and can reproduce 10 to 30 generations each year.
The conventional control method in orchards is to use pesticides to control aphids. The effect was good at the beginning, but as time goes by, aphids will develop resistance from generation to generation. Not only is the effect not good, but it is also easy to produce pesticide residues, which poses a potential threat to human health. More and more orchards are using more environmentally friendly ecological control methods to control aphids.
So how should the ecological control of aphids in orchards be done?
Management measures
1. Clean up the orchard. When cleaning the orchard, thoroughly clean up the diseased branches and fruits on the fruit trees, and properly handle them in a centralized manner, and then apply lime water to the trunks.
2. Fertilizer and water management. In autumn, organic fertilizer should be deeply applied and watered appropriately to increase the resistance of fruit trees to diseases and pests in spring.
3. Hang yellow boards in the orchard. Use the aphids' tendency to yellow boards to trap winged aphids.
Non-toxic control
1. You can use the extract of plant ash to spray fruit trees. While killing aphids, it also supplements potassium and calcium elements to fruit trees. But pay attention to the concentration and time of use. The ratio of plant ash to water is generally 1:5, and the spraying time is more suitable before 10 am and after 16 pm.
2. Use pepper water to spray fruit trees, which has no pesticide damage and is effective in preventing and controlling aphids.
3. Neutral laundry detergent solution can be used. 12 grams to 15 grams of laundry detergent can be added to each bucket of water (30 kilograms). The main component of laundry detergent is sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, which can dissolve the wax protective layer on the surface of pests and has the effect of contact and poisoning pests. In addition, it can also form an airtight film on the surface of aphids, which can suffocate aphids to death.
Natural enemy control
The natural enemies of aphids include ladybugs, aphid flies, parasitic wasps, crab spiders, lacewings, etc. Among these natural enemies, parasitic wasps are recommended, especially trichogrammatids. It has the advantages of simple cultivation, low cost, and good prevention and control effect. If it can be used in conjunction with a virus that is lethal to aphid eggs, the effect will be unexpectedly good. Of course, while breeding trichogrammatids, you can also breed several other natural enemies of aphids.
In summary, there are many methods for aphid control, and various methods and measures must be used in conjunction with each other to achieve an ideal control effect on aphids.
