Military Forests and Estates warns about spraying operations against bark beetles across military forests in Záhorie
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- Date: 24.04.2019
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Military Forests and Estates of the Slovak Republic (VLM) warns that land-based chemical spraying of trees and tree cover, infested by bark beetles, will be conducted across the Záhorie Military District between April and September 2019. The reason for this is the insect calamity due to which approx. 600,000 trees have already died across the area over the past 3 years.
The spraying operations will be aimed against the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), engraver beetle (Ips acuminatus), lesser pine shoot beetle (Tomicus minor), and common pine shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda). Larvae of the beetle species feed on the cambium, the layer between the bark and the xylem (wood), which blocks the transfer of nutrients. On bark beetle reproduction, the reproductive rate of a single 1st generation beetle, which can have 3 generations in a year, is up to 16,000 beetles in the 3rd generation. In an effort to improve the health condition of trees in the area, VLM will conduct spraying operations during the swarming period of the specified beetles.
The Vaztak Active and Karate Zeon insecticides, which are registered by the SVK Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, will be sprayed on trees. Rather than an area-wide treatment, the chemical treatment will be a local one, based on monitoring the presence of the bark beetles, which does not require any authorization by environmental authorities. Should continuous pest hotspots be established, VLM will apply defensive measures against the reproduction of the bark beetles and mark the areas with warning signs. These will be installed also on a large scale before the forest fruit picking season starts.
The spraying operations will be aimed against the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), engraver beetle (Ips acuminatus), lesser pine shoot beetle (Tomicus minor), and common pine shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda). Larvae of the beetle species feed on the cambium, the layer between the bark and the xylem (wood), which blocks the transfer of nutrients. On bark beetle reproduction, the reproductive rate of a single 1st generation beetle, which can have 3 generations in a year, is up to 16,000 beetles in the 3rd generation. In an effort to improve the health condition of trees in the area, VLM will conduct spraying operations during the swarming period of the specified beetles.
The Vaztak Active and Karate Zeon insecticides, which are registered by the SVK Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, will be sprayed on trees. Rather than an area-wide treatment, the chemical treatment will be a local one, based on monitoring the presence of the bark beetles, which does not require any authorization by environmental authorities. Should continuous pest hotspots be established, VLM will apply defensive measures against the reproduction of the bark beetles and mark the areas with warning signs. These will be installed also on a large scale before the forest fruit picking season starts.
