Agriculture technicians are scrambling to curb a potential heavy fall armyworm infestation that threatens to wipe out corn fields in Negros Oriental, an official said Tuesday.
Emmanuel Caduyac, Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) chief, told the Philippine News Agency that as of July 16, some 1,683 hectares of corn fields were already destroyed by fall armyworms in at least eight municipalities.
These are Manjuyod, Bindoy, La Libertad, Vallehermoso, Tayasan, Ayungon, Jimalalud and San Jose.
Vallehermoso suffered the most damage with a total infestation, destroying 168 hectares planted with corn, the PAO official said.
The other towns reported at least 50 percent damage to corn fields.
Fall armyworms usually attack crops like corn, especially after a long, dry spell, followed by heavy rains, Caduyac said.
The fall armyworm infestation was reported about two or three weeks ago just as the rainy season started.
When the worms transform into moths, they fly to nearby fields and attack corn and other crops.
“We are now doing our best to prevent a massive infestation considering that farmers are still reeling from the negative effects of the recent El Niño-triggered drought,” he said.
The local government units (LGUs) are now spraying chemicals in affected corn fields to hopefully prevent other nearby farms from being infested at an early stage, he said.
But Caduyac said there is little chance of recovery once the pests have invaded a large portion of the farm, especially as the fall armyworms hide in corn stalks and are difficult to remove by hand.
A PAO team is currently deployed in the northern towns to validate the extent of damage, while Caduyac is awaiting reports from the other towns and cities in the central and southern parts of the province.
Caduyac said that if interventions cannot stop the destruction of corn fields, farmers are covered by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.
It is also still early to decide or determine what other interventions or assistance the local and/or provincial governments can provide to affected farmers until the PAO can get a comprehensive picture of the infestation, he added. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
