Do clean agriculture with the weaver ant farming model to protect crops

Mr Nguyen Van Tuan (Hung Nghia hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Thong Nhat district) feeds weaver ants. Photo by: H. Giang

This model helps farmers save costs and effort for using pesticides and improve fruit quality.

Reduce costs, increase quality

Mr Nguyen Van Tuan's family (Hung Nghia hamlet, Hung Loc commune) has 1 ha of pomelo garden. In 2018, he started tinkering with how to do clean farming. “I have researched on the internet and know that beneficial organisms must be used to destroy harmful ones. In particular, the weaver ants are very suitable species to destroy harmful pests and protect citrus trees. At that time, there was a nest of weaver ants in my farm, but just only "a few" ones. Later, I caught more ants from outside and brought them into my farm to raise," Mr. Tuan recalled.

And Mr Dang Van Chuc (Hung Nghia hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Thong Nhat district) has more than 5 hectares of agricultural land with many different crops such as: dragon fruit, cashew, banana ..., of which 5000 square meters of lemon, there are a few pomelo trees in the garden. At a visit to the garden, Mr Chuc discovered those pomelo trees in the garden had many weaver ants nests and those trees did not suffer from pests. So, he called some farmers in Cho Lach district (Ben Tre province) to ask.

“The guys in Cho Lach say weaver ants are good for citrus. Then they showed me how to raise ants, multiply the swarm all over the garden. The way to raise is very simple, just hang chicken and duck intestines on the tree and weaver ants come with an extremely fast speed " Mr Chuc shared.

Mr Tuan and Mr Chuc are the first farmers in Thong Nhat district to implement clean agriculture by using the weaver ant farming approach to preserve crops. Both of them have gained initial success after persevering with the new approach for the past three years.

Weaver ants can eliminate pests such as: bugs, aphids, charm worms, mealybugs, and stink ants in citrus orchards. As a result, lemon and grapefruit trees with weaver ants are nearly insect-free. As a result, farmers no longer need to use pesticides or spend time on  spraying. This has lots of advantages, including improved health, ecosystem balance, environmental protection, and lower investment costs.

Citrus trees that grow naturally, without pesticides, without being attacked by pests and diseases, and being defended by weaver ants, will produce big, succulent fruits. “People who plant pomelos really hate charm worms , but weaver ants can kill them all. Mealybugs are also the favorite "food" of weaver ants. "The quality of the fruit is number one if we keep weaver ants in the garden," Mr Chuc said confidently.

According to Mr Chuc, raising weaver ants in the garden has only one drawback. That is a bit extreme of harvest because we will be bitten by ants immediately if we are not careful.

Mr Chuc said that without using pesticides, farmers still have many other ways to handle the plants to flower and bear fruit as they like. For example: adjust the dose of irrigation water, fertilizer ... depending on the experience of each person. As for the 5000 square meters of lemon in Mr Chuc's garden, thanks to the application of the weaver ant farming model to protect the plants, this orchard can be harvested all year round with income about 7-8 million VND/month, minus the cost only about 10%.

It takes time to breeding

Mr Dang Van Chuc (left) and Mr Nguyan Van Tuan at Mr Chuc's lemon garden. Photo by H. Giang

Mr Tuan received many disparages from his relatives and neighbors when he began growing weaver ants. Despite all of the disparages, he still determined on doing it. His perseverance and efforts were rewarded. The ants gradually adapted to his care and increased. The ant colony has currently covered and efficiently protected the pomelo garden.

Pests, bugs, and aphids thrive in the garden in rainy season, ants have enough food so farmers do not need to provide more food. In the hot and dry season, when food is exhausted, the farmers must offer more food for ants, which commonly consists of chicken, duck intestines, and dried fish. Feed once a week or every two weeks. This is sufficient for the weaver ant colony to grow normally.

In addition to raising weaver ants, Mr Tuan also uses IMO yeast to make bio-fertilizers for plants. Accordingly, he takes advantage of all kinds of household waste such as garbage, leftovers, etc to make compost, then mixed with water to irrigate crops. This approach has helped him both reduce costs, and help the pomelo garden to be green, produce a lot of fruit and ensure quality.

Talking about the work of raising weaver ants, Mr Tuan said: “Weaver ants are easy to raise, and do not take much time, effort and care costs. However, if you do not know how to take care, the ants will leave or die. If it has been determined to raise ants to protect crops, it is not allowed to spray pesticides anymore. Because if you do, the ants will die or leave."

This is also the challenge of farmers who want to apply the weaver ant farming model to protect citrus orchards. According to Mr Chuc, it takes 1 year for gardeners to have enough time to "build up" ants for the garden. Meanwhile, farmers will certainly be very impatient when their crops attacked by pests and diseases, so they will use pesticides and the ants will leave. So far, many farmers have not dared to take the risk to apply this model.

Hoang Giang