Laguna rice farmers brace for black bugs Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 08, 2009
LAGUNA, Philippines—After the deluge, landslides, and collapsed bridges, all blamed to the spate of typhoons that struck Laguna, what could be forthcoming?
George Berris, mayor of Calauan town, said a day after Typhoon “Santi” that packed strong winds in the province, black bugs appeared, swarming rice fields in his town.
“That was Nov. 1. We were able to fill up one sack of rice with black bugs (caught swarming) around a single light (bulb),” Berris said.
The rice black bugs (Scotinophara coarctata), four-winged insects no bigger than a five-centavo coin, which have a distinct foul odor, are attracted to light. They also thrive during the full moon.
The pests eat the base of the rice stem, draining the plant of its sap, said engineer Riza Gruezo, agricultural program coordinating officer of the Department of Agriculture in Laguna.
Berris, speaking in the recent climate change hearing with local officials in Laguna, said the black bugs also appeared in other Laguna towns after the typhoon.
“Pity Laguna, it’s going to be a deluge. First, the typhoons and now these (pests),” said Gruezo.
If not contained, the black bugs could totally wipe out the farmers’ harvest, she warned.
In 2008, black bugs infested Calamba City, cutting the city’s rice harvest by half. The pest also attacked the nearby towns of Los Baños and Bay, said provincial agriculturist Marlon Tobias.
She said the black bug plague last year, which lasted for one full planting season or four months, also spread to the towns of Cabuyao, Calauan, San Pablo City and Victoria.
In one site, farmers then could fill up 20 sacks of rice with the bugs.
“They just disappeared then. It’s seasonal,” said Gruezo.
Gruezo said the typhoons that left flood and the farm hays damp, if not submerged, create a conducive environment for the black bugs. “They soak in it,” she said.
To contain the bugs, the Department of Agriculture uses a special blue light similar to a stop light to attract the black bugs and make them easier to be caught.
Gruezo said this is more effective and safer than spraying pesticides, although such chemical is already available but advisable only during worst cases of the plague.
Gruezo noted that farmers, particularly in Cabuyao and Calamba City, should keep monitoring the pests as the towns are on their harvest season this month.
Tobias, however, said that the black bugs “may not be a major pest” given that some farmlands had already harvested their crops and several others were already damaged by the flood, hence the pest may not have much effect.
He added that municipal agriculturists are also trained in preventing the spread of the black bugs.
A partial report from the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council estimated P3.8 million worth of damage to Laguna’s agriculture brought about by Santi. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon, Inquirer Southern Luzon
