Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Non-chemical warfare v. rice black bugs urged
By Juvy S. Gaton
DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) Regional Executive Director Jindra Linda L. Demeterio announced recently that the government is gaining the upper hand in the ongoing war against the rice blackbug in Northern Iloilo after authorities had adopted non-chemical control measures to fight the pest.
Demeterio said agriculture workers are now employing an integrated approach to the problem using combination of biological control methods particularly the rearing and release of green muscardine fungus, the use of light traps, and cultural management practices, thereby effectively keeping the pest's population at bay.
A series of trainings to this effect had been conducted to hasten the capability and efficacy of agricultural technicians in their dispensation of duties and responsibilities to the common man especially in the identification of insects, monitoring of pests and diseases in their rice farm, and control and prevention.
Some 60 technicians will undergo a three-day live-in training and hands on production of metarhizium anisoplea fungus and its field application in infested rice farms on June 14 to 16, 2006 at Barangay Iyang, Concepcion, Iloilo.
The fungi, which used to be transported from BPI Manila in the form of inoculated sawdust media, are being locally cultured and produced using cooked cracked corn as medium for mass production at the matarhizium mass production laboratory DA -- Regional Crop Protection Center, Wesviarc, Jaro.
The bio-control laboratory is headed by Ms. Roselyn Curioso, Senior Agriculturist and a member of the Regional RBB Task Force Team. The rearing labs and the training will strengthen the region's capability to control the pest and encourage the local government units to come with their own bio-control laboratories, Demeterio said.
She said the approach had already been successfully tried by workers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute, National Crop Protection Center at UP Los Banos, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and DA-LGU in Negros Occidental when the same rice black bug infested farms in Kabankalan and other neighboring municipalities in the province in 1998.
Citing a report from DA-RCPC Monitoring Team, statistics showed that the release of the fungus metarrhizium sp. on infested rice farms lands, particularly at Mr. Ernesto Mainar's farm in Ajuy, Iloilo, significantly reduced the bug's population per hill in the area after the pest was detected in the town last March.
According to Mainar, the rice black bug population per hill reached to as high as 15-25 bugs in his farm. After application of metarhizium fungus, the number reduced to 5-10 bugs per hill, although still at an alarming level, nevertheless, the fungus which attacked the egg masses of the black bugs averted the hatching of the eggs and eventually killed the future generation of rice black bugs in the area.
Demeterio also said that the DA had also spent about P 300,000 for the series of trainings of some 180 farm technicians devolved in local government units in Western Visayas on the identification, monitoring and effective non-chemical approach to fight the rice black bug.
The black bug, believed to have originated from Malaysia through the southern backdoor, was first reported in Palawan in the early 80s. Because of the sea trade, it had since spread to Mindanao in the mid 90s, and moved to Leyte, then to Negros Occidental and in recent months, in several Northern Iloilo municipalities, infesting about 1,500 hectares of rice farms.
Despite its viciousness, DA crop protection experts say the pest can be controlled without toxic chemical pesticides, using biocontrol methods, light traps and simple techniques like intermittent flooding of the rice root system, a favorite area where it lays eggs.
"With all these integrated pest management (IPM) strategies adopted, it will not take long before the black bug population in Northern Iloilo will also be brought down to non-damaging level," Demeterio said.
(June 21, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
