Massive spraying of insecticide to prevent the spread of fall armyworms that have hit one city and three towns in the 5th District of Negros Occidental was conducted Thursday, June 20, Rep. Emilio Yulo III (Neg. Occ., 5th District) said.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist reported that the fall armyworms have hit 80 hectares of sugarcane and 3.2 hectares of corn in Himamaylan City.
There were also suspected fall armyworm attacks on 22 hectares of corn in Isabela and 20 hectares of corn in Binalbagan, the OPA report said.
Reported armyworm attacks on corn in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, are also up for validation, Yulo said.
Yulo said the massive spraying of sugarcane fields hit by fall armyworms in Sitio Iling-iling, Brgy. Cabadiangan, Himamaylan City, was conducted by the OPA, Sugar Regulatory Administration with the help of private firms.
They will continue their spraying operations in other areas on Friday, he said.
Yulo said swift action is needed because the armyworms spread fast. They keep receiving reports of more areas hit by the armyworms, he said.
“We want to prevent the infestation from further spreading and also from recurring,” Yulo said.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the presence of the armyworms was monitored since last week and he instructed the OPA “to treat it as soon as possible”.*