• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
To address rising environmental and safety concerns, the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), in partnership with chemical supplier DC Cruz, is bringing in agricultural experts to a forum in Bacolod City on July 22 to explain safety protocols surrounding the aerial application of systemic pesticides.
This comes after sugarcane fields in Negros Occidental face a severe outbreak of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), with sugar industry stakeholders remain locked in debate over the safest and most effective way to save the region’s standing crops.
UNIFED president Manuel Lamata defended the proposal for large-scale aerial spraying, stressing that immediate, broad-spectrum action is critical to protect small-scale farmers who lack the financial means to purchase individual chemical treatments.
Responding to critics who argue that aerial spraying cannot effectively reach RSSI pests residing underneath sugarcane leaves, Lamata explained that operators will use low-pass methods and specialized aircraft equipped with “vortex nozzles” to create a tornado-like air effect that thoroughly drenches the stalks with systemic pesticides.
“We have to do something on a large scale as the interventions being introduced by some sectors are for long term and will not save thousands of hectares of standing crops at this point,” Lamata said.
He added that spraying will begin on heavily infested small farms before expanding to larger plantations that opt into the program.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier ruled out funding or supporting aerial chemical spraying, advocating instead for biological and eco-friendly pest control methods due to public health and environmental risks.
Negros Occidental Fifth District Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo III urged stakeholders to adopt a hybrid strategy.
While biological interventions may be ideal for long-term sustainability, Yulo said the act is too slow to contain massive, active outbreaks.
He proposed targeted chemical intervention in severely infested zones while relying on biological controls to maintain long-term balance across the province. | GPB
