Following the success of the experimental natural system for controlling the major pest in the rice fields, tried out last year, it will be used in the entire 500 hectares of the rice fields in Calasparra this year at a cost to the regional govenment of 15,000 euros.
The «rice borer» (Chilo supreslis) is one of the main plagues which threatens rice cultivation in Calasparra. It is a larva which penetrates the centre of the cane of the sprig of rice eating away until it completes its complete biological cycle. The community of rice growers had been looking for an effective control system to protect the crop which uses less phytosanitary products.
Last year the reginal government financed an experiment in a part of the rice fields using a revolutionary new technique that employed the pheremone of butterflies to confuse the male borer so it would be unable to find the females and thus reduce the number of plants affected by larvas.
This year the system will be used on the whole rice plantation along with a series of traps in order to monitor if there are any of the insects present.
The plantation will also be regularly monitored to ensure there are is no damage to the crop.
(Photo by Calasparra Town Hall during the Mirrors Evening Organized Walk at the Bayo, Calasparra)
