IN ORDER to mitigate the spread of the Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) in Negros Island Region (NIR), the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will conduct a specialized training for local agriculturists, affected local government units (LGUs), Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and other key stakeholders in Bacolod City on July 14, 2025.
Pablo Luis Azcona, SRA administrator, said RSSI is still spreading, but last week’s monitoring showed only a slight increase compared to the previous weeks.
“This may be due to high awareness of RSSI already and planters have started their own intervention,” he said.
However, he added that SRA’s data is based on validated ocular inspections but the figure could still be higher as there are sugar farmers who are not reporting the presence of RSSI in their farms.
Azcona noted that the training’s end-target result is to equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills for early detection, prevention, and monitoring of RSSI infestations, thereby supporting efforts to control and ultimately eradicate the pest.
Azcona said RSSI infestations, according to studies, pose a significant threat to sugarcane productivity, potentially reducing the sugar content of infested canes by up to 50 percent.
He said Bacolod City has been selected as the first location for the training due to the confirmed presence of RSSI across 20 LGUs in Negros Occidental, as well as one LGU in Negros Oriental.
The training will be led by the SRA’s Research, Development, and Extension Department (RDE), as part of the agency’s immediate response to the RSSI infestation in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture Negros Island Region, The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist in Negros Occidental, the Bureau of Plant and Industry, the Department of Agrarian Reform, The Food and Pesticide Authority and the Mill District Development Councils.
SRA records showed that as of July 2, 2025, a total of 20 towns and cities in Negros Occidental, which composed of 99 barangays, one town in Negros Oriental, two in Iloilo, and four in Capiz, or a total of 2,332.51 hectares of sugarland, have been affected by RSSI.
Azcona already submitted its recommendations to the local government units in NIR to declare state of urgency which will help them to contain the spread as to quarantine procedures and in order to speed up procurement process for pesticide assistance among farmers affected.
This was after Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel earlier approved the P10-million budget requested by the SRA to address the infestations of RSSI in Negros and Panay.
Azcona said they are also developing a software application that will create a dashboard for reporting of validated RSSI cases, for better data gathering and future reference. (MAP)