By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.
Sugarcane workers harvest cane in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. —RONNIE BALDONADO/CONTRIBUTOR/FILE PHOTO
BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — The Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (Confed) is calling on the Department of Agriculture (DA), particularly the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), to immediately implement measures to arrest the surge of red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) infestation in sugar farms.
“Numerous sugar farmers have reported a resurgence of RSSI infestation in their farms. They conduct natural and biological measures to combat its spread, but the infestation persists because the insects simply transfer to adjacent, untreated sugar farms,” Confed president Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. said in a press statement Wednesday, June 3.
“Last crop year, we experienced widespread RSSI infestation in Negros and Panay. We learned that arresting the spread of RSSI cannot be done simply by addressing it at the individual farm-level, because the insects just transfer to other untreated farms. We call on the DA and SRA for large-scale, preemptive measures, such as aerial spraying, to stop the insects and prevent their spread to other cane farms,” Valderrama said.
