• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The continuing spread of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation is expected to reduce sugar production in the next planting season as Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson warned of the pest’s growing impact on the province’s sugar industry.
“What is challenging is the RSSI. We experienced this last year and it came back this year. What’s worse is that while we are in the planting season right now, RSSI is already present. Unfortunately, we can expect our production to be hit. We are probably looking at lower crop production in the next planting season,” Lacson said.
The governor said the provincial government is preparing to create a task force to address the infestation through an executive order.
“We have done that already. We are preparing now to form the task force to address RSSI. Many ideas have been brought up on how to address it and we will continue to study them. What is important is that we continue to monitor how widespread the infestation has become,” he added.
On the funding needed to combat the pest, Lacson said the provincial government is carefully balancing its disaster response budget.
“I cannot say how much the budget will be, remember we are now in the month of June. Big typhoons have not yet hit us. We have to be very careful with our disaster budget because we need to balance it out. This is not something we planned for. We always focus on typhoons, especially major floods,” he said.
Despite budget constraints, Lacson acknowledged the severity of the infestation.
“Definitely, it is serious. Our crop production will go down, and coupled with low sugar prices, it is a serious setback to the sugar industry,” he said.
Negros Occidental has officially been placed under a state of calamity following the outbreak and continued spread of RSSI in sugarcane plantations.
Based on the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) report as of June 23, about 61,242 hectares or 32.18 percent of Negros Occidental’s 190,314.19 hectares of sugarcane plantations have already been affected by the pest.
Negros Oriental is also moving to declare a state of calamity due to the worsening infestation.
Governor Manuel Sagarbarria said the provincial government has earmarked P15 million for the immediate procurement of pesticides and other response measures.
According to the SRA, validated data showed the RSSI infestation has expanded to 16,576 hectares of sugarcane farms across the Visayas, with the Negros Island Region accounting for 16,019.16 hectares, making it the country’s hardest-hit sugar-producing area. | GPB
