Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced the downloading of ₱235 million in aid to small farmers and for the deployment of more drones to speed up the urgently needed chemical spraying of sugarcane fields in Negros Occidental hit by the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insects (RSSI).
Laurel and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona met with the congressmen and mayors of Negros Occidental, who are alarmed by the widespread RSSI destruction to sugarcane crops, at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City on Friday, July 24.
RSSI has reportedly hit 92,780 hectares of sugarcane land nationwide, 61,382 hectares of which are in Negros Occidental, SRA data showed Friday.
Laurel said the DA is directly downloading ₱35 million to the mayors, of which ₱10 million will be used for pesticides and ₱25 million for drone services in Negros Occidental.
Another ₱200 million will be allocated for emergency cash assistance to 12,327 small farmers whose crops have been hit by RSSI, which will be released by the Department of Social Services and Development, he said.
The number of affected farmers could increase to 20,000, so at ₱10,000 each, that’s ₱200 million, he said.
“RSSI has become an epidemic in a certain sense” that must be immediately addressed, he said.
He said 40 big commercial-sized drones will be lent by tobacco farmers, which a C-130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force will bring to Negros.
Their drones can spray pesticides over 600 hectares a day, but in Negros Occidental, it may be 300 hectares a day if they need to fly at 1.2 meters above the plants, Laurel said.
Unfortunately, they cannot go organic now, as only chemical agents are available at this time, he added.
The SRA has developed biocontrol agents, but can only produce enough to spray over 4 hectares a day, he explained.
Laurel said on Tuesday he will be meeting with all the DA research centers and facilities to mass-produce biocontrol agents in their laboratories all over the country, though he noted that could take time.
They believe the RSSI problem will persist so they are calling on the mayors to set up laboratories in their localities to produce their own biocontrol agents, Laurel added.
Laurel said DA spray cannon vehicles for pesticides will also be brought to Negros.
The DA secretary also met with farm workers of Hda Lolita in Cadiz City who have filed a complaint over alleged unjust wages and benefits, and promised to take up their case with Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino for speedy resolution.
The secretary also met with members of the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines to listen to their concerns.*
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