ILOILO City – The Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC) of the Department of Agriculture 6 has already coordinated with local government units in the province of Iloilo to alert them of the possible threat of massive infestation of army worms.
As of Sept. 14, infestations were monitored in the towns of Miag-ao and Tigbauan and sighting was also reported in Maasin town, according to Ryan Rasgo, chief of DA 6- RCPC.
In Miag-ao, the infestation was detected in a 21-hectare rice areas in six barangays of the town namely, Bagumbayan, Ticdalan, Cawayan, Igpandan, Igbugo, and Igcabitoon.
Rasgo said Tigbauan, meanwhile, was already provided with the recommended pesticides and biological agents against the pest detected in a 10-hectare rice area in the town.
He urged farmers and local agricultural workers to intensify their monitoring and surveillance on the occurrences of army worms considering the direct damage its infestation will bring to crops, particularly of rice where some are now at the harvest stage in some areas of the province.
Army worms are dangerous nocturnal pests that can cut off leaves and rice panicles from base. They can transfer from one field to another and damage the crops.(with PIA-6/PN)
