Mayor Benjie Miranda on Monday, June 29, said he will recommend that the Kabankalan Sangguniang Panlungsod declare a state of calamity due to red striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) attacks on sugarcane farms and the death of pigs in his city.

Miranda, who attended an RSSI forum held by the United Sugar Producers Federation and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay, said the Kabankalan City government will support SRA’s  efforts to curb the spread of RSSI, including the aerial spraying of insecticides.

Meanwhile, he noted that the cause of the pig deaths in his city has not yet been determined.

An SRA report as of Friday, June 26, shows that 76,609 hectares of sugarlands have been reported hit by RSSI, with 61,242 hectares in Negros Occidental and 15,367 hectares in Negros Oriental.

 Of the 17,595.31 hectares of sugarcane land in Kabankalan City, 6,686 hectares have been reported hit by the insects.*

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