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KORONADAL CITY, SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines — The red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI), a destructive sugarcane pest first detected in Bukidnon, has spread to Sultan Kudarat, raising concerns over its potential impact on the region’s sugar industry, agriculture officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Authorities said the pest, scientifically known as Pulvinaria tenuivalvata, was detected in a sugarcane plantation in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, where about 65 hectares of a 107-hectare farm have been infested.
The infestation was confirmed after a joint field inspection in Sitio Lumaga, Barangay Poblacion, conducted by the Sultan Kudarat Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (Opag), the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the Department of Agriculture-Regional Crop Protection Center 12 (DA-RCPC 12), and other agricultural agencies.
Engineer Mariah Ventura of the Opag said field assessments showed that roughly 60 percent of the plantation had been affected by the pest.
