Coconut pests raise agri alarm

MINALIN, Pampanga—De facto agriculture chief Francis Pangilinan has asked President Aquino to approve emergency measures to help farmers combat scale insects that have infested more than a million coconut trees in Southern Tagalog and Bicol.

Pangilinan, recently appointed presidential assistant for food security and agricultural modernization with powers over top Department of Agriculture offices, described the situation as problematic because the plague has spread to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon and several areas in Bicol.

“If we don’t contain this, the entire industry can be wiped out, unless we act,” Pangilinan said in an interview after rites commemorating the 400th year of this town last week.

He said he had convened a task force to coordinate efforts to stop the infestation.

In Quezon, the battle is being waged by the provincial government, private sector and farmers. But the public-private partnership still faces tough challenges ahead without the help of the national government.

“If we lose our coconut cover, the farmers will not be the only sector that will be affected,” said Danilo Suarez, former Quezon representative.

Quezon is one of the biggest coconut-producing provinces in the country.

In August last year, the Philippine Coconut Authority, on its website, said 34,588 sick coconut trees had been cured in eight towns in Batangas and Quezon.

The procedure to cure infected trees is simple: You just spray dishwashing solution and fine-grade coconut oil (cochin) on the trees, prune their leaves, apply fertilizers and remove the insects.

“We have to be together in this battle because so much is at stake,” said Roberto Gajo, Quezon provincial agriculturist, in an interview on Tuesday.