• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
E.B. Magalona Mayor Matthew Louis Malacon has issued an executive order creating the municipal red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) task force to prevent the spread of infestation in the sugarcane farms of the northern Negros municipality.
He directed all barangays to strengthen the monitoring and surveillance of RSSI in the community level, with barangay captains ordered to designate barangay RSSI focal persons, preferably the barangay health workers president, tanods, kagawads committee on agriculture, who shall serve as the primary liaison between the barangay and the municipal RSSI task force.
Of the 6,896 hectares of sugarcane farms in E.B. Magalona, the Sugar Regulatory Administration reported that 503 hectares were hit by RSSI in 20 of its barangays, affecting 46 farmers.
Malacon said that considering the rapid spread of the infestation, it will pose a serious threat to the sugar industry, if left unabated.
“There is an urgent need to institutionalize a municipal RSSI task force to ensure a coordinated, timely and effective local response,” he added.
Headed by Malacon himself, the municipal RSSI task force will formulate and recommend policies, strategies, programs and interventions to address the infestation within the town, coordinate with concerned national government agencies, provincial government of Negros Occidental and other stakeholders to ensure a unified response. | GPB
