SRA breakthrough: Fungus seen to end sugar pest attacks
BACOLOD CITY—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 mostly on Negros Island.
An entomopathogenic fungus, capable of eliminating RSSI, has been found in Capiz province on Panay Island in Western Visayas, according to SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona.
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 Monday at the sidelines of an SRA training workshop on RSSI management at the Negros Occidental Capitol here.
He said the SRA researchers successfully multiplied the fungus and observed its aggressive attack on adult RSSIs and their eggs.
“It’s natural, not chemical … We hope to multiply them for distribution to farmers for free for spraying,” Azcona added.
While initial laboratory tests showed the fungus could kill RSSI, field tests would have to be conducted, he stressed.
Azcona acknowledged that spraying chemicals is often the quickest way to respond to RSSI, but it’s also harmful to beneficial insects.
Multiply rapidly
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 SRA can teach farmers’ associations and local governments how to replicate and multiply the fungus, Azcona said.
“It’s easy to do; it’s a natural-occurring fungus in sugarcane,” he 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 ha of sugarcane fields on Negros Panay Islands, a significant increase from the 84 ha 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 ha affected by the pest.
But Azcona also said that the infected sugarcane fields represent just over 1 percent of Negros Occidental’s approximately 250,000 ha of sugarcane.
Infestations were also reported in Negros Oriental (Mabinay, 3.5 ha), Iloilo (Anilao and Barotac Nuevo, 29.15 ha), and Capiz (Sigma, Panit-an, Pontevedra, and Dao, 23.20 ha).
Prevention steps
Early detection remains crucial in preventing the spread of RSSI, Azcona stressed.
Farmers who followed recommendations to detrash infested leaves, burn them away from sugarcane areas, and immediately apply insecticides have seen 237.66 ha of RSSI-hit areas recover, he said.
The SRA is currently awaiting an executive order from Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson declaring a “state of urgency” or “state of calamity” in the province to enable the SRA to hasten the procurement of pesticides for distribution to agrarian reform beneficiaries, Azcona added.
This would also allow the 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.
In a speech at the start of the workshop on RSSI management, he said he was “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.”
