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Harmful Moths Have Attacked the Ararat Plain and Are Eating the Whole Harvest
http://www.aravot.am/en/2012/07/04/87886/
July 4, 2012 14:48
The whole harvest of the Ararat valley is under threat - moths are
eating the whole harvest of tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes and peppers
and villagers don't even hope that at least 10 percent of the harvest
will be gathered, since the Cabinet doesn't take action to fight
moths. Today Varuzhan Khodedanyan, the deputy leader of the community
of Darakert, said at the Hayeli club.
In response to a question of www.aravot.am what means there were to
fight moths and what the Ministry of Agriculture had to do, Mr.
Khodedanyan said that this was the first time in the history of the
Armenian agriculture and farmers tried to fight moths as much as they
could these days, however they bred so fast that farmers could not be
successful, `Therefore, one needs an organized fight. The farmer can
destroy moths in his greenhouse, but we cannot fight them in the
fields. The ministry has told us to use some drugs or not to leave the
harvest in the field, to move it quickly. Even if we do it, there is
no use. They lay eggs in the ground.'
During a conversation with is, Mr. Khodedyan said that farmers could
buy chemicals from the market and finish moths off using them, but
then the harvest would be dangerous for human health, if a farmer
unknowingly sold the poisonous harvest on the market. However, even
this separate fight will not completely eliminate moths. According to
Varuzhan Khodedyan, this kind of harmful moths are frost-proof, they
eat stems, harvest and leaves and will spread very quickly also in the
foothills and even forests.
As for where the `harvest-eating' moths have come from, no one knows
exactly. In the farmer's words, `Perhaps, they are from the imported
seeds, we cannot say exactly. I don't know whether they check seeds on
the border or not. If they had been checked on the border, they would
have disinfected them. In any case, it is not clear where they have
come from, but for example, inTurkeythere has been such a problem for
10 years already.' The farmer assures that the European experts
advised to fight moths using carnivorous parasites, which should be
imported toArmenia. They eat harmful insects, but they are very
expensive both to import and to look after, `Chemicals shouldn't be
used at all. If nothing is done, we will have nothing to calculate in
the fall, the chickens are counted before they are hatched, right? And
our chicken are loans, they are dollars of the Agba bank. All farmers
have taken loans to be engaged in agriculture, to reap a harvest and
to pay off the loans. However, 100% of the harvest is under threat at
the moment and the Cabinet doesn't do anything. We used to harvest 35
tons of harvest from a 3000mē greenhouse, whereas we reaped a 5-6-ton
harvest last year because of those moths, we burned the rest. We
didn't know what kind of a problem it was; we thought they were just
butterflies, but the moment we would plant a seedling, they would eat
it in the very ground.'
Armen Simonyan, a resident of the same community, complained during a
conversation with www.aravot.am that the Ministry of Agriculture
didn't support villages even concerning the simplest issues, `The
ministry should at least send agricultural experts to the communities
who will give professional advice what should be done when, what
should be injected or concerning this very issue of moths, no farmer
understood what butterflies attacked the harvest. If an expert was
around, perhaps something could be done. If the Cabinet doesn't do
anything within the next 2-3 days, farmers should give up on their
harvest.'
Nelly BABAYAN
From: Baghdasarian
http://www.aravot.am/en/2012/07/04/87886/
July 4, 2012 14:48
The whole harvest of the Ararat valley is under threat - moths are
eating the whole harvest of tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes and peppers
and villagers don't even hope that at least 10 percent of the harvest
will be gathered, since the Cabinet doesn't take action to fight
moths. Today Varuzhan Khodedanyan, the deputy leader of the community
of Darakert, said at the Hayeli club.
In response to a question of www.aravot.am what means there were to
fight moths and what the Ministry of Agriculture had to do, Mr.
Khodedanyan said that this was the first time in the history of the
Armenian agriculture and farmers tried to fight moths as much as they
could these days, however they bred so fast that farmers could not be
successful, `Therefore, one needs an organized fight. The farmer can
destroy moths in his greenhouse, but we cannot fight them in the
fields. The ministry has told us to use some drugs or not to leave the
harvest in the field, to move it quickly. Even if we do it, there is
no use. They lay eggs in the ground.'
During a conversation with is, Mr. Khodedyan said that farmers could
buy chemicals from the market and finish moths off using them, but
then the harvest would be dangerous for human health, if a farmer
unknowingly sold the poisonous harvest on the market. However, even
this separate fight will not completely eliminate moths. According to
Varuzhan Khodedyan, this kind of harmful moths are frost-proof, they
eat stems, harvest and leaves and will spread very quickly also in the
foothills and even forests.
As for where the `harvest-eating' moths have come from, no one knows
exactly. In the farmer's words, `Perhaps, they are from the imported
seeds, we cannot say exactly. I don't know whether they check seeds on
the border or not. If they had been checked on the border, they would
have disinfected them. In any case, it is not clear where they have
come from, but for example, inTurkeythere has been such a problem for
10 years already.' The farmer assures that the European experts
advised to fight moths using carnivorous parasites, which should be
imported toArmenia. They eat harmful insects, but they are very
expensive both to import and to look after, `Chemicals shouldn't be
used at all. If nothing is done, we will have nothing to calculate in
the fall, the chickens are counted before they are hatched, right? And
our chicken are loans, they are dollars of the Agba bank. All farmers
have taken loans to be engaged in agriculture, to reap a harvest and
to pay off the loans. However, 100% of the harvest is under threat at
the moment and the Cabinet doesn't do anything. We used to harvest 35
tons of harvest from a 3000mē greenhouse, whereas we reaped a 5-6-ton
harvest last year because of those moths, we burned the rest. We
didn't know what kind of a problem it was; we thought they were just
butterflies, but the moment we would plant a seedling, they would eat
it in the very ground.'
Armen Simonyan, a resident of the same community, complained during a
conversation with www.aravot.am that the Ministry of Agriculture
didn't support villages even concerning the simplest issues, `The
ministry should at least send agricultural experts to the communities
who will give professional advice what should be done when, what
should be injected or concerning this very issue of moths, no farmer
understood what butterflies attacked the harvest. If an expert was
around, perhaps something could be done. If the Cabinet doesn't do
anything within the next 2-3 days, farmers should give up on their
harvest.'
Nelly BABAYAN
From: Baghdasarian