Presidential Adviser on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Secretary Francis Pangilinan, Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agriculture Modernization, on Monday unveiled a six-month emergency measure to address the coconut insect infestation.
The government will spend P750 million to contain the pests affecting 1.2 million trees.
“The general framework of the Scale Insect Emergency Action Program, we do… This is a six-month program beginning June wherein we will do all these: pruning and burning of drying leaves, integrated po ‘yung approach niya, and then we will do a trunk injection,” he said at a press briefing at Malacañang.
“After which, there will be spraying using organic material, organic pesticide. After spraying, we will do release of biocontrol agents, which is the friendly kulisap, and then we do fertilization and strengthening or providing more sustenance and nutrients to the trees, so that it will recover faster,” he added.
Last week, President Benigno Aquino III announced that the areas of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Basilan are being plagued by coconut infestation.
Pangilinan emphasized that the Philippines is 60 percent of the share of the world’s coconut exports.
“This is a billion dollar earner per annum. So that is how important this particular—the coconut industry is,” he said.
He explained that the pest was aspidiotus rigidus, and that it took them some time before they were able to identify the measures to counter the said pest.
“What is endemic in the Philippines is (not) aspidiotus destructor but aspidiotus rigidus, which is the pest that we have identified (that) may have been, well, introduced from out of the country. We do not have the data and the evidence as to how it got into the country, but there is the possibility that this could have been brought in through Batangas ports, and by way of bringing in ornamental plants,” Pangilinan said.
“And that is why it took some time before we were able to identify the necessary measures to combat this pest—number one—and that is why, because it was not endemic to the country, the natural enemies were not available or were not around to be able to defeat it or, at least, keep it at bay,” he also said.
There are 1.2 million trees affected of the infestation as of June 2014, with Batangas as the badly hit with over half a million trees. There will also be measures to be undertaken in “threatened” areas in Mimaropa, Bicol and Zamboanga Peninsula. The pests are likely transported by air.
The government has so far spent P65 million to combat the pests.
Aside from the six-month plan, Pangilinan said they would also do quarantining.
“We will set up checkpoints in these areas because you can spread the disease—or the infestation, rather—the pests by way of infested crops or infested coconuts, infested trunks, infested leaves. And so, we will be quarantining key areas in the Calabarzon area. Mass rearing of biocontrol agents, that is raising the friendly kulisap (insect), so that they may, in their natural environment, help contain these pests and then continuing research and development,” he said.
There will also be livelihood intervention to address the loss of income of the farmers. Coconut farmers earn P15,000 a year.
The government will spend P750 million to contain the pests.
For the Phase I of the program (June to August), a budget of P460 million is allotted; Phase II with P204 million and Phase III with 88 million.
“And it will include precisely the protocols that we mentioned: injection of insecticides, pruning and burning, scale insect laboratory to produce these biocon agents, rehabilitation, surveillance, and quarantine,” he said.
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