Petty tormentors: how a snowy winter spoils summer for summer residents and farmers
Summer residents and farmers began to feel the effects of the snowy winter — snowdrifts protected insects from freezing and laying their eggs, and now gardens, vegetable gardens and farmlands are experiencing an invasion of several types of pests at once — slugs, bears, rodents. Increased activity of the Colorado potato beetle, fruit beetle and locust is expected in summer. Waterlogging of the soil can also affect the harvest — it contributes to the development of fungal diseases of winter crops. If crops are not protected, some producers may lose up to 6% of the harvest, experts believe. The echoes of the snowy winter also make it uncomfortable to be in nature — at least 14 Russian regions have already recorded an abundance of mosquitoes and midges.
The pests were saved by high snowdrifts
In the second half of May, residents of at least 14 Russian regions began complaining about the invasion of insects, primarily mosquitoes, according to media reports. An abnormally large number of bloodsuckers are reported, for example, in the Leningrad and Ryazan regions, Bashkiria, the Moscow region and a number of other subjects.
It was the snowy winter that created the conditions for a sharp increase in the number of insects, biologist Dmitry Safonov explained to Izvestia. The dense snow cover worked like a thermos.
"It protected the insects and larvae wintering in the soil and plant litter from freezing, and allowed them to successfully survive the cold," he explained.
Therefore, the invasion of insects is felt, first of all, where heavy snowfalls were observed last winter — in addition to those listed above, these are also the Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, and Sverdlovsk regions, the expert added.
— And in spring, the key factor was the abundance of meltwater, which creates ideal conditions for the reproduction of mosquitoes and midges. Their larvae are actively developing in the water," the biologist explained. — The future situation directly depends on the summer precipitation. If the summer is rainy, there will be more mosquitoes, if it is dry, there will be fewer.
Suburban summer residents also informed Izvestia about the invasion of insect bears that spoil lawns and harm agricultural crops, destroying their roots and eating seeds. Their activation is also a consequence of the snowy winter, Dmitry Safonov explained.
— The snow cover served as frost protection for eggs, larvae, pupae and adult insects, including bears. Therefore, there will be more of them in areas that have not been subjected to deep autumn digging," the expert noted.
According to the expert, gardeners may encounter other pests: the American white butterfly, the nutcracker beetle, the Colorado potato beetle and the fruit beetle.
— Aphid eggs overwinter in the bark of trees or on weeds. Almost all the individuals survive under the snow, and in the spring the ants quickly spread them around the site," he said.
Mice and rats successfully survived the winter and "multiplied well", Dmitry Safonov added.
"In loose snow, mice make whole networks of passages that, due to the height of the snow cover, allow them to reach, for example, the bark of trees and gnaw it, so they are not noticed by birds of prey," the biologist explained. — And already in the spring, heavy snowmelt led to the flooding of their burrows. Therefore, rodents began to migrate en masse to drier garden areas in search of food and shelter.
We must not forget that rodents carry a number of dangerous diseases, including hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, Dmitry Safonov emphasized. In Tatarstan, for example, at least 57 cases of infection have been recorded since the beginning of the year, the biologist cited data from Rospotrebnadzor.
How the snowy winter will affect the harvest
A snowy winter can affect yields, both positively and negatively, says Sergey Mamikhin, a leading researcher at the Faculty of Soil Science at Moscow State University.
— It all depends on the local conditions. For most regions of traditional agriculture in our country, soil recharge after a snowy winter is certainly a positive factor," he explained.
According to him, heavy snowfall has had a beneficial effect on clay soils, which retain moisture well, and it is on such lands that agriculture is mainly conducted in central Russia.
— In the southern regions, sandy and sandy loam (with a mixture of clay) soils are already developing, which retain moisture worse. However, there are also chernozems there," the expert said.
Snowfall has had a negative impact on agricultural land, which is located on land with excessive moisture, said Sergey Mamikhin.
— The effect of temporary waterlogging can be observed in these territories, which is bad, for example, for grain. On the contrary, this will have a positive effect on the rice harvest," he pointed out.
Under a thick snow cover, a fungus is actively developing, affecting, for example, winter crops.
What should agricultural producers do?
Due to the increase in the number of pests, agricultural producers will most likely have to use chemicals more actively, Vasily Melnichenko, a farmer and chairman of the Federal Village Council public movement, explained to Izvestia.
However, insects and rodents become more active every spring, so farmers plan a set of protective measures anyway, otherwise they may lose 5-6% of the grain harvest.
— If last year the Saratov and Astrakhan regions were stuck, now the locusts will eat the Siberian regions, — the expert suggested. — With a good snow cover, egg clutches of the same locust hibernate perfectly.
However, such weather events are generally not critical for agriculture, Vasily Melnichenko noted.
— In a small country, the climate can greatly affect the harvest. We are a very big country, so if things may be bad in one region, then everything will be fine in another," he said.
Therefore, even despite the increase in the number of pests in some regions, a good grain harvest is expected in Russia this year — 130-140 million tons, which corresponds to the level of last year, Melnichenko added.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
