Use of Rotten Jackfruit to Control Golden Apple Snail

Cooperating agency for this topic:
Mr. Zubir Bidin
Department of Agriculture
Malaysia
Fax: (60 3) 2697 7205, 2002-09-01

The Golden Snail or Apple snail (Pomaceae sp.) is a major rice pest in a number of Asian countries, including Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. If these pests are not controlled they can cause devastating damage to rice crops, thus incurring huge losses to farmers.

The adult snails cut the young paddy seedlings or tillers that are less than 21 days old, thus hindering the tillering of the young paddy. Attacks mainly take place during the night. The signs of the attack are the cut paddy tillers floating in the water, and the bare patches in the crop. Attacks tend to be worse in areas where the water is more than 1 cm deep, or in stagnant water.

To control the snails is difficult and costly. The snails are prolific, and females may lay 2000 - 3000 eggs in one year. No natural predator is known, and the use of pesticides may kill other types of beneficial snails and aquatic organisms.

Current measures to control the snails are quarantine action, and collecting and destroying eggs and adults, as well as introducing ducks to feed on the snails. Sometimes the snails aregathered in the field, crushed and fed to penned ducks.

In Malaysia, farmers control the snails simply by using rotten jackfruit as a bait. This method has proved to be highly successful (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).

The Technology

• Collect the rotten jackfruit to be used as a bait. Try and collect freshly rotted fruits which have a strong smell.
• Choose a suitable spot and put the bait out. Be careful not to submerge the bait. The chosen spot should be a place with running water, populated with golden snails. It should also be a place where it is easy for you to collect the snails.
• Leave the bait overnight and inspect the spot every morning.
• Collect the snails which have gathered on and around the jackfruit, and destroy them (Fig. 3).
• Replace the rotten jackfruit with new bait when necessary.

Merits of the Technology

This method is simple, low-cost and environmentally friendly. It is effective, and can be integrated with other control measures.

Index of Images

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  Figure 1 Jackfruit - One of the World's Largest Fruits

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  Figure 2 Rotten Jackfruit Used As a Bait to Attract Golden Apple Snails

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  Figure 3 Collecting the Snails Which Have Gathered on the Jackfruit, in Order to Dispose of Them

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