The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has started the procurement process for pesticides amounting to P15 million for distribution to farmers in the Visayas affected by the red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) infestation.
“We are just completing the necessary documents and the right specifications to immediately procure the pesticides,” SRA Board Member David Andrew Sanson, head of the RSSI Task Force, said in a statement on Tuesday, August 5.
The budget includes P10 million allocated by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the P5 million set aside by the SRA from its own disaster fund.
SRA-Visayas data showed the infestation has affected about 3,284.80 hectares of sugarcane farms in Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Iloilo, Capiz, and Leyte from May 22 to Aug. 1 this year.
The worst-hit is Negros Occidental, with 3,184.39 hectares of affected sugarcane fields planted by 1,754 farmers in 23 local governments.
In Negros Oriental, the infestation has been reported in 3.95 hectares of farmlands, Iloilo – 59.69 hectares, Capiz – 24.6 hectares, and Leyte – 12.17 hectares.
Meanwhile, a total of 289.32 hectares of affected areas have recovered, mostly in Negros Occidental.
The highest of which is in Manapla, Negros Occidental spanning 135.48 hectares, followed by Bago City with 42.51 hectares, E.B. Magalona – 38.62 hectares, Murcia – 26.76 hectares and Victorias City – 22.25 hectares.
Recovering areas were also reported in Mabinay, Negros Oriental; Anilao, Iloilo; and Sigma and Panit-an, Capiz, all at 10 hectares and below.
If not addressed, RSSI could reduce the sugar content of infested canes by almost 50 percent.
On July 24, the Negros Occidental provincial government declared a state of calamity partly due to the alarming outbreak of the RSSI infestation.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the move will allow them to hasten procurement of pesticides as the first defense based on the research from the National Crop Protection Center of the University of the Philippines.*PNA