Governor Lilia G. Pineda recently ordered the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) headed by Crispin Guintu to establish a mini-laboratory for the mass production of metharizium anisopliae, a biological fungicide for the control of rice black bug (RBB).
Pineda ordered this on her working birthday which was spent meeting with farmers, among other groups, to improve their productivity.
“Kailangang magawan agad ng paraan yan para hindi makapaminsala sa inyong mga pananim. Lalo na, palay ang pangunahing ikinabubuhay dito sa atin, kaya pagsikapang mapuksa agad,” the governor emphasized to the OPA.
The governor’s order was given after Guintu stated in his report to the Governor’s Office that the rice black bug has been infesting rice-producing towns in Nueva Ecija, Aurora and the Bicol region. “It is also now threatening Central Luzon,” Guintu said in his report.
Guintu explained that the RBB has the scientific name Scotinophara coarctata but is locally known as “itim na atangya”.
“It attacks rice plants in the irrigated area at almost all stages of its growth, particularly from maximum tillering to ripening stage.”
He added that damage by this pest could result in severe to complete crop loss during heavy infestation.
According to Edith Vega, information officer of the OPA, the first reported incidence of RBB in the Philippines was in Southern Palawan in 1979. Of late, it has been damaging farm in the Bicol region and is now threatening our region, according to the OPA.
In its life cycle, Guintu explained, the female RBB deposits its eggs on the lower part of the leaves or on the basal part of the rice plant near the water surface. Then it lays about 20 eggs during its lifetime and watches the eggs until these are hatched.
He also differentiated the damage caused by the RBB from that caused by stemborer. “The RBB has no decaying plant part, no foul odor and it is difficult to pull the damaged plant apart while the stemborer has a decaying plant part, gives off a foul smell and it is easy to pull the damaged plant apart.”
This, says Guintu, makes the RBB a more difficult pest to manage, making the Governor’s order an essential step towards overcoming its threat.
The mini-laboratory for the mass production of the fungicide metharizium anisopliae should be set up soon in compliance to the Governor’s directive “whose goal is to see farmers increase their yield and their earnings”, Guintu concluded. (Pampanga PIO)
