• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) infestation in sugarcane farms has spread to 36 local government units (LGUs) in the Visayas, affecting 3,284.80 hectares as of Aug. 1, data of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed.
RSSI, which sucks leaf sap, can reduce sugar content by up to 50 percent.
Based on the consolidated report, RSSI was reported in 23 of 32 towns and cities in Negros Occidental, affecting 3,184.39 hectares of sugarcane fields, with 1,754 farmers affected.
RSSI also damaged 59.64 hectares of sugarcane farms in 11 barangays of five LGUs in Iloilo; 12 hectares in 12 barangays of six LGUs in Capiz; 12.7 hectares of sugarcane fields in Ormoc, Leyte; and 3.95 hectares of sugarcane farms in Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
However, the SRA reported that 289.32 hectares of affected areas have already recovered as farmers followed the recommendation to de-trash infested leaves and burn them away from the sugarcane areas as well as to immediately apply insecticides with different mode of actions.
Negros Occidental was recently placed under a state of calamity due to the effects of southwest monsoon and RSSI infestation.
The declaration allowed the SRA to immediately spend P5 million from its own funds and P10 million from the Department of Agriculture for the purchase of pesticides aimed at addressing the spread of RSSI.
SRA Board Member David Andrew Sanson, RSSI Task Force head, said they have “started the procurement process and are just completing the necessary documents and the right specifications to immediately procure the pesticides for distribution to the farmers”.
The SRA is also working to combat the RSSI infestation in sugarcane farms by utilizing beneficial fungi as a natural pest control method.
They are exploring the mass production of two specific fungi, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, which are known to be natural enemies of RSSI. | GB
