The Himamaylan City government is reactivating the Barangay Bantay Peste Brigade in response to the fall armyworm infestation affecting sugarcane plantations and cornfields in the area.
The city government conducted a joint meeting June 27 with the Association of Barangay Captains and City Agriculture Office (CAO) to reactivate the anti-pest program.
CAO provided updates on the purchase of farm chemicals to mitigate the fall army infestation.
Early this week, Himamaylan City announced that its third and fourth quarter budgets for crop protection program will be utilized in its pest control efforts.
“We are fast-tracking the processing of requests before the infestation spreads to more agricultural areas in Himamaylan,” Mayor Raymund Tongson said in a press release June 28.
Barangay officials are also set to undergo a training course for pest and diseases identification and management, he added.
The Himamaylan local government unit has also requested the Negros Occidental Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) to use the drone for massive spraying on affected farms and areas.
As of June 21, a total of 64.65 hectares of cornfields in vegetative stage in the three barangays of Himamaylan were plagued by pest, affecting the livelihood of 124 farmers.
About 50 percent of the 18.88 hectares owned by 55 farmers are infested in Brgy. San Antonio, 54 percent of the 13.17 hectares in Brgy. Mahalang affecting 23 farmers, and 65 percent of the 32.6 hectares cornfields in Brgy. Carabalan, affecting 46 farmers.
This is just the initial reports from the City Agriculture Office, and it is monitoring the daily situation in the affected areas, Tongson said.
He added that the city government is closely working with the office of Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Dino Yulo, OPA, Sugar Regulatory Administration, and private groups to combat the attack of the fall armyworm in the locality.
Tongson said the city government is also planning to source out corn seeds to be distributed among affected local farmers.
As per reports earlier, 82 hectares of sugarcane plantations in the city were also hit by armyworms.
The OPA and SRA have started the massive spraying on sugarcane fields hit by armyworms, in cooperation with private companies in Brgy. Cabadiangan, the city added. ||
