• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED) called on the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration to immediately act on the surge of red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation in sugarcane farms.
In a statement on June 3, CONFED president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. said that after experiencing widespread RSSI infestation in Negros and Panay last crop year, they learned that arresting the spread of RSSI cannot be done simply by addressing it in the individual farm level.
“Numerous sugar farmers have reported that there has been a resurgence of RSSI infestation in their farms. They conduct natural and biological measures to combat its spread, but the infestation persists because the insects simply transfer to other adjacent untreated sugar farms,” he added.
“We call on the DA and SRA for large-scale, preemptive measures, such as aerial spraying, to stop the insects and prevent its spread to other cane farms.”
Last year, more than 3,700 hectares of cane farms had been affected by the RSSI infestation, mostly in Negros Occidental where 24 local government units were affected.
“We urge the SRA to move with utmost speed because, as we learned from last crop year’s experience, RSSI spread exponentially in just three months. From several affected hectares since SRA reportedly started monitoring in May 2025 until it reached almost 3,700 hectares in August 2025,” Valderrama said.
He noted that RSSI infestation could reduce the cane’s sugar content by as much as 50 percent and its effect is disastrous to sugar farmers who continue struggling with high costs of fuel and farm inputs amid low millgate sugar prices. | GB
