The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has announced a significant breakthrough in its fight against the destructive red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) that have infested 2,932.13 hectares of sugarcane fields.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said on Monday, July 14, that an entomopathogenic fungus, capable of eliminating RSSI, has been found in Capiz.
The beneficial fungus was found a few months ago in Capiz and subsequently brought to the SRA’s research facility in La Granja, La Carlota City, in Negros Occidental, Azcona said, in an interview on the sidelines of an SRA training workshop on RSSI management at the Negros Occidental Capitol in Bacolod City.
They successfully multiplied the fungus and observed its aggressive attack on adult RSSIs and their eggs, Azcona said.
“It’s natural, not chemical…We hope to multiply them for distribution to farmers for free for spraying”, Azcona added.
While initial laboratory tests show the fungus can kill RSSI, field tests will have to be conducted.
Azcona acknowledged that spraying chemicals is often the quickest way to respond to RSSI, but it’s also harmful to beneficial insects.
The discovered fungi, with scientific names Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, are being studied as a long-term, sustainable solution to RSSI, noting that they multiply rapidly, taking only three days.
The Metarhizium anisopliae fungi*SRA photo
The SRA can teach farmers’ associations and local government units (LGUs) how to replicate and multiply the fungus, Azcona said.
“It’s easy to do; it’s a natural-occurring fungus in sugarcane,” Azcona said, explaining that the local fungi feed on molasses to multiply.
If not contained, RSSI can reduce the sugar content of infested canes by almost 50 percent, Azcona warned.
The RSSI pests have so far affected 2,932 hectares of sugarcane fields, a significant increase from the 84 hectares reported in May. Most affected areas are fields located near roadsides, the SRA chief said.
Negros Occidental accounts for the highest total area hit by RSSI, with 2,876.28 hectares out of the 2,932.13 hectares of RSSI-infected sugarcane farms across Negros and Panay.
The SRA reported that 1,574 farmers in 113 barangays within 21 LGUs in Negros Occidental have been impacted.
But Azcona also said that the infected sugarcane fields represent just over 1 percent of Negros Occidental’s approximately 250,000 hectares of sugarcane.
Infestations were also reported in Negros Oriental (Mabinay, 3.5 hectares), Iloilo (Anilao and Barotac Nuevo, 29.15 hectares), and Capiz (Sigma, Panit-an, Pontevedra, and Dao, 23.20 hectares).
Early detection remains crucial in preventing the spread of RSSI, Azcona stressed.
Farmers who followed recommendations to de-trash infested leaves, burn them away from sugarcane areas, and immediately apply insecticides have seen 237.66 hectares of RSSI-hit areas recover, he said.
The SRA is currently awaiting an executive order from Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson declaring a “state of urgency” or “state of calamity”, Azcona said
Such a declaration would enable the SRA to hasten the procurement of pesticides for distribution to agrarian reform beneficiaries, he added.
This would also allow immediate use of P10 million from the Department of Agriculture and P5 million from the SRA for the purchase of pesticides, he said.
Lacson said they were still preparing the executive order. “I want to see the final draft and if I see the need to sign it I will do it,” Lacson said.
Meanwhile, Lacson in his speech at the start of the workshop on RSSI management said “I am confident that the knowledge shared and partnerships built during this workshop will make a sustained benefit and improvement on how we manage and overcome pest outbreaks, not just with RSSI but in addressing future agricultural threats as well.”*