Managing golden apple snails by IPM solutions

Currently, farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces especially in An Giang, Dong Thap, and Kien Giang are in the stage of sowing for the autumn-winter crop 2021. However, due to the frequent rainy weather, it is difficult to manage the yellow apple snails that cause damages to rice plants there.

During the beginning of the present crop, as a habit, farmers often kill apple snails not only by anti-snail drug products but often by combining them with pesticides.

The use of pesticides during this period will cause unbalance for the ecosystem, destroy the sustainable relationship between plants, pests, and natural enemies, and greatly impact the environment and other useful species such as fish, water mosquitoes, etc.,  thus it will also affect the solving issues related to pests in different growth stages of rice plants later.

As recommended by authorities, taking integrated pest management (IPM) solutions in controlling golden apple snails are not only aimed at killing snails but also regulate the ecosystem balances.

According to assessments, in the first 40 days of the crop, if pests have not yet affected economic efficiency, the use of pesticides will harm aquatic resources and natural enemies. Pest outbreaks will possibly occur, later become more severe and demand more cost. Therefore, farmers should not use a combination of anti-snail drugs with insecticides to kill golden apple snails.

To handle it well, farmers can use Anpuma 700WP products that are sold in the market. After the process of making soil for the crop, they should wait for the water sludge to settle then mix 35 grams of Anpuma 700WP with 25 liters of water contained in the bottle and spray 15 bottles on 1 ha. To achieve high efficiency of killing snails, farmers need to keep the water level stable from 5-7cm and spray the mixture in early mornings or cool afternoons.

In case of rain, they can use them in combination with Anhaed 12GR snail killer to spray into puddles and waterways where snails are still remaining there to increase the killing effectiveness. A dosage of Anhead 12GR is recommended from 5-8 kg/ha.