BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO – The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) has alerted coconut farmers in the province against possible “cocolisap” infestation.
PAO chief, Dr. Ildefonso Toledo advised all coconut growers to be keen in monitoring their coconut farms.
Farmers were told to report immediately to the nearest agriculture office or to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) if they had detected “cocolisap” in their farms.
Toledo said “cocolisap” or coconut scale insect usually attacks the leaves of the coconut in all its life stages.
PAO is coordinating with PCA on how to control the infestation with the use of biological control agents.
So far, Toledo has received no report on “cocolisap” infestation in the province.
Incidence of cocolisap infestations were already reported in coconut farms in regions 4, 5 and 9.
Earlier, Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan reported that the local coconut industry had already lost P200 million and mounting because of cocolisap infestation./PN
