Cooling and Precipitation Reduced Pest Activity on Crops

Variable weather with temperature fluctuations, rain, and wet snow, as well as frost, has affected the development of disease agents in winter grain and rapeseed crops. However, these conditions have negatively impacted the harmfulness of phytophagous pests, whose development has slowed due to a lack of effective warmth.

This is reported by AgroReview

This data is presented in the report by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection regarding the phytosanitary status of agricultural crops.

Pest Status in the Fields

In the winter crops of Dnipropetrovsk, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Ternopil, Kherson, and Cherkasy regions, larvae of the grain weevil have been recorded, with a population density of 0.2-2 individuals per square meter, causing damage to 1-5% of plants over 3-12% of the area. The analytical report notes that the age structure of the larvae is as follows: II-14%, III-86%. Since the weevil larvae can cause damage until the end of April, specialists recommend implementing protective measures in border strips or in areas with threshold populations (EIL over 3-4 larvae per square meter) and other phytophagous pests, using permitted insecticides.

Caterpillars of the winter moth in the fifth-sixth instars (20-80%) with a density of 0.5-2 individuals per square meter have infested 3-15% of the surveyed areas and damaged up to 3% of winter wheat and rapeseed plants in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy regions.

Other Pests and Their Impact

In the winter and spring cereal crops, the slow spread and harmfulness of grain fleas continue, primarily concentrated in forest belts and at the edges of fields, as well as slugs, cereal flies, aphids, and leafhoppers, which have caused damage to 2-4%, at most 15% of plants at sub-threshold populations.

In Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions, the sand-colored beetle has infested up to 4% of winter grain and spring barley crops with a population density of 0.5-2 individuals per square meter, leading to damage of up to 3% of plants. The greatest damage from beetles is observed in the early stages of crop development, as they can completely destroy seedlings or significantly weaken plants, resulting in direct and indirect crop losses.

In Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kherson regions, the harmful shield bug is emerging on the leaf surface, with an average population density of 0.3-1 individuals per square meter. During phytosanitary monitoring, it is important to consider that in cool weather, the pest resides in the lower layers of the grass stand, in the tillering nodes of the plant, as well as in the cracks under soil clumps. In the absence of rain during the early spring period, the harmfulness of the bugs may increase, especially on spring cereal crops.