BACOLOD City – Cocolisap bug infestation in Negros Occidental is now under control, according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
The governor conferred with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) yesterday, with the latter confirming they have contained the infestation.
OPA data showed that around 6,000 coconut trees were affected in the cities of Bago and La Carlota and the towns of Murcia and La Castellana.
Cocolisap (aspidiotus regidus) attaches itself to coconut leaves, feeding on its sap directly drawn from the plant’s vascular system, devastating bearing and non-bearing coconut trees.
Earlier, the provincial government established emergency measures to control the spread of cocolisap.
In Executive Order (EO) No. 23-36 series of 2023 issued on Aug. 10, Lacson said the infestation poses a very serious threat to the coconut industry and to the livelihood of those who depend on it.
There is thus a need for comprehensive measures to effectively control and eventually eradicate cocolisap, he stressed.
Under the EO, the PCA is the lead agency in the province-wide effort to contain the cocolisap infestation in partnership with the provincial government, local government units, and partner agencies.
Checkpoints and quarantine stations were also formed to prevent the transport of coconut leaves, fronds, coconut saplings, and other raw or unprocessed coconut products to stop the spread of infestation.
The PCA was also given exclusive authority to grant permits for transportation.
The PCA maintains a biological control laboratory in Bago City’s Barangay Mailum.
It is breeding natural predators of the cocolisap to control the infestation.
Another solution being eyed is to prune cocolisap-infected leaves of coconut trees.
According to PestNet, a network that helps planters obtain rapid advice for crop protection, cocolisap infestation in the country was first detected in Batangas in 2009, although scientists traced its origin to Indonesia’s Sangi Island in the 1920s.
Since then, cocolisap outbreaks have taken place in the country. The worst was in 2014, when 2.1 million coconut trees in Calabarzon and parts of Mindanao were affected. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
