Pests affect 4k hectares of corns

The fall armyworm infestation has reached almost 4,000 hectares of corn farms in the past three months, although the extent of damage was alleviated due to massive information drive and technical assistance to control the disease this month.

Department of Agriculture-Regional Crop Protection Center (DA-RCPC) Cagayan Valley chief Mindaflor Aquino reported recently that the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) may cause 40 percent to 100 percent in damage to corn, rice, and other crops if early monitoring and management are not implemented.

Aquino said an early management must be done by regularly monitoring and curbing the proliferation of early-infested spots.

She said that they intensified distribution of insecticides and biological control agents, initiated on-the-spot technical briefings, established pheromone traps regionwide, and announced information education through media and print materials.

The fall armyworm often occurs if there is too much use of nitrogen fertilizer and having asynchronous planting or not planting at the same time in one farm, without a “fallow period”or rest of the farm, she said.

Fall armyworm-infested corn farms reached almost 4,000 hectares this year, mostly in Isabela, Cagayan, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya. No reported cases were listed in Batanes.

In last year’s wet cropping season from June to November in 2023, the DA-RCPC validated reports that corn plants infested by fall armyworms reached 11,137 hectares, affecting 222 barangay (villages) in 40 towns and cities regionwide. The production losses have yet to be assessed.

Affected areas in Isabela were Angadanan, Aurora, Cabatuan, Echague, Gamu, Lluna, Mallig, Quirino, Reina Mercedes, Roxas, and the Cities of Ilagan and Cauayan. In Nueva Vizcaya. Also affected were corn farms in Solano, Bagabag, Diadi, Quezon and Villaverde. In Quirino province, the towns of Aglipay, Cabarroguis, Diffun, Maddela, Nagtipunan and Saguday were hit by the said pests.