• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Armyworms continue to wreak havoc on corn and sugarcane plantations, now affecting 40 barangays in 10 towns and cities of Negros Occidental.
As of June 27, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist reported that a total of 558.23 hectares of sugarcane plantations and cornfields in Himamaylan City, Isabela, Binalbagan, Moises Padilla, Ilog, Kabankalan City, Cauayan, Murcia, and La Castellana were damaged by armyworms, affecting 663 farmers.
Cutworms also attacked banana trees in Brgy. Camang-Camang, Isabela, Negros Occidental, according to OPA reports.
Nilo Basco Jr., head of the Crop Protection Section of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), said they are currently validating the claims of the damage declared by local government units on the pest infestations.
Basco said the spraying of pesticides in affected areas, in tandem with partner agencies, continues.
According to the Department of Agriculture, armyworms are destructive pests that got their names from their army-like movement in agricultural fields. They usually consume turf grass but would eat any vegetation in their path. They can be controlled using neem oil-based sprays, or with biological controls like earwigs, spiders, and predatory wasps.
The armyworm outbreak has been blamed on climate change, triggered by the El Niño phenomenon and subsequent rains.
The 40 barangays affected by pest infestations are villages of Mahalang, Talaban, Poblacion II, San Antonio, Carabalan, Caradio-an, Libacao, and Mambagaton in Himamaylan City; Makilignit, Mansablay, Camang-Camang, 9, and San Agustin in Isabela; Santol and Bi-ao in Binalbagan; Macagahay, Quintin Remo, Inolingan, and Crossing Magallon in Moises Padilla;
Barangay Tabu in Ilog; Hilamonan, Magballo, Tagoc, Binicuil, Camansi, Orong, Tapi, Bantayan, Inapoy, Tagukon, Oringao and Tabugon in Kabankalan City; Puso in La Castellana, Tambad in Cauayan; as well as Amayco, Buenavista, Canlandog, Minoyan, San Miguel, and Pandanon in Murcia.*
