THE Department of Agriculture (DA)-Negros Island Region (NIR) urged farmers in Negros Occidental to brace for more occurrences of pest and diseases during rainy season, which officially started May 24 as announced by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Renato Manantan, executive director of DA-NIR, told Sun.Star Bacolod that unlike other regions, agricultural areas in Negros are not really vulnerable to typhoons and flooding.
Thus, local farmers should be more prepared for possible plant diseases and pests like leaf blight, rice blast and even armyworms, Manantan said.
Leaf blight, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is a disease most likely to develop in areas that have weeds and stubbles of infected plants.
It causes wilting of seedlings and yellowing and drying of leaves. Bacterial blight is one of the most serious diseases of rice, and the earlier the disease occurs, the higher the yield loss, it added.
Rice blast is a disease caused by fungus characterized by elliptical leaf spots with reddish-brown margins, brownish lesions and neck rot of the fruiting panicles, and stunting of the plant.
Armyworms are green-striped caterpillar larvae of the adult armyworm moth. A common pest of grass, armyworms also damages corn, beets, beans, clover, flax, millet, and other grains.
“We are reminding the farmers on the importance of early detection and mitigation to avoid huge damage and production losses like those brought by the recent El Niño,” Manantan said.
Reports from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Sugar Regulatory Administration, and Provincial Veterinary Office showed that prolonged dry weather condition associated with El Niño has caused damage and losses of almost P450 million to the agro-fishery sector of the province.
Part of the crop damage and losses were incurred by farmers due to rat and rice black bug infestation.
For its part, OPA earlier said that while it has been addressing the El Niño situation, it has at the same time advised farmers to brace ahead for rainy season as well La Niña through proper crop and nutrient management.
The Bantay Peste Brigades in all local government units remained activated on top of the monitoring and mitigating efforts conducted by their respective city and municipal agriculture offices, it added. (EPN)