• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has sought a P10-million pesticide assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to contain the spread of red-striped soft-scale insects (RSSI) in Negros Occidental sugarcane farms.
The request, which will be submitted to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, was decided during a meeting between the SRA and the DA Friday last week, DA-Negros Island Region Director Jose Albert Barrogo said.
Barrogo added that an inter-agency task force led by the SRA was also created.
The SRA reported that 87 hectares of sugarcane fields in 11 towns and cities of Negros Occidental have been affected by the RSSI.
According to a study conducted by the University of the Philippines, the pests can reduce the sugar content of sugarcane by almost 50 percent, the SRA said.
Most farms reported a mild infestation of 20 percent, although one 12-hectare area showed a 70 percent infestation, which is currently being treated, according to the SRA.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona asked the assistance of the 11 chief executives and Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to help contain infestations within their localities.
Hit by slight to severe infestation were sugar farms in the cities of Cadiz, Victorias, Silay, Talisay, La Carlota, and Bago as well as the municipalities of Toboso, Manapla, E.B. Magalona, Murcia, and La Castellana, the SRA report showed.
In his letters to Lacson and the 11 mayors, Azcona said the RSSI can rapidly spread from one field to another, if not contained.
“This pest poses a significant threat to our crops and can affect yield, which in general can also affect the production of the entire sugar industry,” he added.
Negros Island accounts for two-thirds of the country’s annual sugar production.
The first confirmed RSSI infestation was reported in Pampanga in 2022.
Barrogo said they will deploy pesticide sprayer tankers, two in Negros and one in Panay, after the Bureau of Quarantine reported that some canes are being transported to Panay from Negros.
The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) on Monday called on the government to implement stricter quarantine measures between Panay and Negros to prevent the spread of RSSI.
UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said the entry and exit of sugarcane stalk should temporarily be suspended as he admitted that some of the sugar plantations of their members were also affected by the RSSI.
SRA chief science research specialist Raphael Henri Mundo reported that the agency is now coordinating with the National Crop Protection Center and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for the possible issuance of emergency use permit once a second trial is completed on potential insecticides against RSSI. | GB
