Youth call Uzhgorod residents to contribute to salvation of chestnuts

The NGO "Ecotone" will try to solve this already an acute problem in Uzhgorod in practice, the Zelene Zakarpattya reported. The number of trees to be used for the methods proposed by scientists depends on the amount of funds available for the organization. Therefore, the "Ecotone" is looking for people, who would help them with the financing of the project to restore Uzhgorod trees.

The trees suffer from the invasion of ruthless phytophag chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella). Besides chestnuts, the leaf miner lives on most deciduous trees – sycamore, ash, maple… According to the head of the Department of Botany of UzhNU Oleg Kolesnik, it appeared in Transcarpathia in 1990s. The parasite was first discovered in Macedonia in 1985. 

So, now the "Ecotone" has real plans to save Uzhgorod chestnuts. There are many methods to do this: burning of fallen leaves, the use of insecticides. Now, scientists are going to implement the two methods of dealing with the chestnut leaf miner. The first one is to put Trichogramma insects on infected trees – they lay their eggs in the larvae of the leaf miner, and eat parasites from inside. The price for insects per one plant throughout the growing season is 30 – 40 UAH.

Another, equally effective, safe, and therefore, no less popular abroad method to deal with the chestnut leaf miner is the use of insecticide injections – putting the substance into drilled holes in the crust. "The tree treated in this way is not affected by parasite for up to 3 years. The price of injections for one tree varies within 180 – 240 UAH", – Miroslav Markovich, the co-organizer of the "Ecotone" said.

Already this spring, young scientists want to try both methods on several chestnuts in Uzhgorod. They will be seeking for the cheaper and more efficient one. "Hopefully, Uzhgorod residents will be interested in the development of practical methods of restoring chestnuts in the regional center, and they will contribute to this work of the "Ecotone" – the scientists say.