Experts from the National Crop Protection Center of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (NCPC-UPLB) will be in Negros Occidental this week to help farmers contain the fall armyworm infestation in at least nine local government units.
The team from Laguna province will join experts from the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas Regional Crop Protection Center, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) during the validation of the affected areas in the 5th District on Wednesday, July 3.
“We will also validate the damage in the area as reported to the SRA,” Nilo Basco Jr., head of the OPA Crop Protection Section, said on Monday, July 1.
An OPA report showed that as of June 27, fall armyworms have infested 558 hectares of corn and sugarcane fields in Himamaylan City, Isabela, Binalbagan, Moises Padilla and La Castellana in the 5th District; Kabankalan City, Ilog and Cauayan in the 6th District; and Murcia in the 3rd District.
Some 663 farmers from a total of 40 villages in these localities are affected, it added.*PNA