Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and DA-NIR Director Jose Albert Barrogo (1st and 2nd from right) inspect an RSSI hit sugar farm near the Bacolod Silay Airport on Thursday.*DA photo
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the P10 million sought by the Sugar Regulatory Administration to curb the spread the highly destructive red-striped soft-scale insects (RSSI) that have hit 546.10 hectares of sugarland, the bulk of which are in Negros Occidental, has been approved.
The RSSI has hit sugar farms in 46 barangays in 13 towns and cities in Negros Occidental, and one town each in Negros Oriental, Capiz and Iloilo, SRA data showed Thursday, June 5.
The SRA said 294 farmers have been affected.
Laurel inspected an RSSI hit farm in Negros Occidental on Thursday.
The DA secretary witnessed the testing of a mobile pesticide spray system of the DA NIR at an RSSI-hit farm near the Bacolod Silay Airport, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said.
Laurel said the DA has approved the P10 million budget and the SRA has procured pesticide to curb the spread of the RSSI.
The SRA will use the P10M to purchase pesticides as a quick emergency response, especially for sugar farms of land reform beneficiaries, Azcona said.
“Whatever additional support needed by the SRA and the Negros farmers, we will give it all,” Laurel said.
Laurel said there are quarantine measures for movement of sugarcane planting materials.
The SRA suspects that cane points from Luzon have been the source of the RSSI that hit Negros.
The movement should not be allowed without permits, but the country’s coastlines are so wide they can easily be brought in, Laurel said
“Now we’re trying to crack down on it. This is not really allowed without permits,” he said.
The DA intelligence and enforcement personnel are investigating the source of the infected cane points, he said.
Azcona said they are moving to halt the spread of the RSSI quickly to prevent a sugar supply shortage.
“We have to stop the infestation because majority of the sugar supply is from Negros. We have about 250,000 hectares planted to sugarcane,” he said.
Severe RSSI infestation could cause sugar production to drop by 50 percent, Azcona said, although he also pointed out that the sugar milling season is almost over.*