• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Department of Agriculture has called on provincial, city, and municipal agriculturists and local farmer technicians in Negros Occidental and the rest of Region 6 to be on the alert against pests and diseases this wet planting season.
In an advisory June 3, the DA6 said that rice black bugs, brown planthoppers, and rice stemborers, as well as bacterial leaf blight and rice blast could adversely affect harvest if not prevented the soonest time possible.
It stressed the importance of early sightings or detection of infestation, crop pest surveillance, and information dissemination campaigns to prevent or limit the spread of diseases.
“Ginapangabay ang tanan nga mga talatapan nga magpatigayon sang nagakaigo nga pangampanya kung paano madumala ang mga peste kag pamalatian sang palay,” the DA said.
The DA6 had mobilized local farmer technicians (LFTs) in 2023 to conduct regular crop pest surveillance, adding that LFTs “should be at the forefront in preventing pest and disease incidents, that, if not managed, could significantly reduce crop yield, particularly during adverse climate occurrences.”
Rodents, rice black bug, rice blast, brown planthopper, and bacterial leaf blight are the major crop pests in Western Visayas that the DA-Regional Crop Protection Center aims to address promptly, through integrated pest management and an intensified collaboration between and among the LGU extension workers and the department.
The LFTs were also urged to assist the DA and local government units in listing farmers in the government’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture. | CGC
