A massive insect infestation threatening thousands of hectares of sugar fields in the Visayas has prompted an emergency meeting on Tuesday, June 23, between sugar producers and Negros Occidental provincial officials.
The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) will sit down with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to tackle the spread of the Red Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI), its president Manuel Lamata said Sunday.
Lamata said that the figures are alarming and doubling on a weekly basis, leaving planters, particularly small farmers, deeply worried about what this massive infestation will do to their crops.
The RSSI infestation has entered an accelerated phase across the Visayas, with affected areas having more than doubled to 4,847.63 hectares in six days, the SRA reported on Thursday, June 18.
Rep. Emilio Bernardino L. Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th District) on Friday called for a “State of Calamity” assessment and the immediate formation of a provincial task force to combat a rapidly spreading infestation of theRSSI).
While RSSI’s presence was first noted last year, Lamata explained that it initially came in while the sugar crops were already standing.
Although it did some damage then, he warned that what they are seeing now is worse than what they witnessed last year, requiring immediate intervention from all sectors across both the government and private spheres.
Pointing out that sugar is the lifeblood of Negros Island, Lamata noted that they suspect RSSI caused the drop in last year’s production and fear it will cause even bigger damage if left unaddressed.
To help arrest the problem, Lamata also invited Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Azcona along with the Inter-agency RSSI Task Force that was established last year to discuss how everyone can assist.
He pointed out that while the SRA has continuing research on RSSI and offers ongoing assistance to farmers, they can only do so much in cultivating fungi and deploying other natural scientific approaches to combat the insect.
Furthermore, the agency lacks the resources and manpower to fully cover the entire island and validate the actual extent of the damage.
Lamata emphasized that this is a problem where everyone needs to come together and help out, as it is becoming a major threat to productivity and, more importantly, the long-term sustainability of the industry.*
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