In an effort to reduce the use of pesticides and learn about environmentally friendly agriculture, elementary school students in Geisei Village, Kochi Prefecture, made traps to lure in pests.

The children have been engrossed in making pheromone traps that lure and capture male common cutworms, a pest insect, using the scent of females.

For the past 20 years, a hands-on learning experience using pheromone traps has been held at a local elementary school in Geisei Village every year, and on the 26th, 20 third graders from Geisei Elementary School took part.

The children have already learned that cutworms eat local specialties such as eggplants and bell peppers, and that pheromone traps are an environmentally friendly way to reduce pests without the use of pesticides.

A single plastic bottle trap can attract nearly 300 cutworms, so the children carefully constructed them, reinforcing the bottle with duct tape to prevent the insects from escaping and drilling holes with a drill to allow the pheromones to be released more easily.

“I want there to be a lot of pests inside.”
“(The trap) kills the bugs and makes lots of flowers grow. I want to get lots of bugs in the trap and make lots of flowers grow.”

Finally, the children drew whatever pictures they wanted on the traps.

(Q: What did you draw on the plastic bottle?)
“Rabbits and sweets”
“Colorfully painted”
“Pikmin and Fish”

“I want people to enjoy eating (Geisei Village vegetables).”

The traps made by the children will be set up in greenhouses in the village in September when crop planting begins.