In a ‘blitzkrieg’ operation, sugar farmers in Bukidnon deployed an army of 40 people in teams of ten, to conduct a one-week concentrated pesticide spraying to prevent the spread of Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation.
Donning Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) reminiscent of the COVID pandemic, these men are fighting a different battle in the fields, a pest that is hard to see by the naked eye but is now a “serious threat” for the sugar industry as it spreads through sugar cane fields in Luzon, Visayas and now in Mindanao, a press release from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said Sunday, July 12.
Each man carries a power sprayer with a load of 16-18 liters of pesticides and depending on the severity of the infestation and age of cane, an estimated 15 to 18 loads is needed to spray one hectare, it said.
SRA chief Pablo Luis Azcona lauded the “proactive and united” action of sugar farmers, the millers and the local government units to arrest the spread of RSSI in their localities.
“The only way we can contain this is through a concerted effort and you have a good start here because your sugar leaders are unified on a crisis like this,” Azcona said during a sugar forum attended by sugar stakeholders from Davao, Cotabato Bukidnon in Quezon, Bukidnon last week.
Mindanao is considered the new frontier of the sugar industry where expansion is still possible. Last year, it accounted for almost 25 percent of sugar produced in the country contributing 6.3 million tons of sugar out of the total production of 25.6 million tons, he said.
In 2025, SRA issued an order to prevent travel of cane points from RSSI-infested areas, particularly from Negros to Mindanao as these have been detected as a source of infestation.
“We were able to arrest several shipments last year”, Azcona said, but this year, “it unfortunately found its way to Davao,” and spread to the rest of Mindanao.
Currently, the figures remain low with validated RSSI infestation in 207 hectares in Davao, 149 hectares in Bukidnon and 24 hectares in Cotabato. However, SRA is set to deploy a team in Sultan Kudarat where infestation may be higher than initially reported.
Quezon town Mayor Pablo Lorenzo III who also chairs the local Mill District Development Council (MDDC) stressed on collaborative effort to avert the spread of RSSI as he thanked a private-funded initiative that allowed the deployment of the “pest busters.”
A total of P310,000 were initially contributed by sugar groups, a chunk of which was allocated to labor cost. At the forum, a pledge of another P300,000 was made by sugar federations to augment the funds for the “blitzkrieg operation.”
“Let us do a one-time, big-time operation so we can quickly kill what’s on our fields and follow this up with strong monitoring to ensure that it is contained,” Lorenzo said.
“Do not play doctors in your farm. Report and let the experts do it,” Lorenzo said.
He warned of several falsehoods on social media that “may very well exacerbate the situation. We must let SRA take over as soon as reporting is done as they have the capability to validate, diagnose and suggest what the action should be.”
He thanked SRA field officer Johnny Agsaoay for leading the task force.
Mindanao Federation of Sugarcane Planter President Manuel Zubiri also said an “all-out unified effort is the only way to stop this,” as he thanked the various private and government agencies in support the RSSI Control Operation in Bukidnon.
In Negros Island which accounts for more than 60 percent of the country’s sugar output, the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have declared a state of calamity as RSSI has ravaged more than 30 percent of sugar fields, the press release said.
The United Sugar Producers’ Federation (UNIFED) is leading consultations with local chief executives in both provinces to conduct a one-time, big-time operating through aerial spraying.
“We need to get our acts together,” Lamata said in a forum with mayors in Negros Occidental last Friday at Nature’s Village in Talisay City, where options of aerial spraying and drone operations were presented with the assurance that only ‘systemic’ chemicals must be used to make sure its not harmful to human, plants, animals and predatory bugs.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante who also chairs the Association of Chief Executives in Negros Occidental said that he will present all options to all mayors in a scheduled meeting on July 17.
“It is important to know that systemic chemicals will be used and all we need to decide on is how this operation should be carried out because we need to act in unison to save our standing crops,” Escalante said.
A Davao-based company that sprays banana plantations in Mindanao said that an airload can carry 1,000 liters and can spray 33 hectares in a day weather permitting.
A drone on the other hand can carry about 70 liters to spray one hectare.
Latest figures show more than 18,000 hectares have been validated to have RSSI infestation in Negros Occidental, but reporting has reached more than 70,000 hectares.*
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