Rice pest causes crop damage in Negros

BACOLOD CITY–The Rice Grain Bug, an emerging rice pest in Negros Occidental, continues to infest more areas as the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) recorded another R 2.4 million worth of damage in two municipalities.

Pontevedra town and Himamaylan City lost R2,445,536 worth of rice crops due to infestation in January, records from OPA released to the media Wednesday showed.

Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino said apart from Pontevedra and Himamaylan, OPA is waiting for the reports from towns in the sixth district, Candoni and Hinobaan, where infestations were also reported.

Pontevedra belongs to the fourth district while Himamaylan in the fifth district, both located in the southern part of Bacolod.

This is the first reported Rice Grain Bug infestation this year, Masculino said.

Pontevedra has R2,053,760 worth of damage covering 59 hectares and affecting 33 farmers. OPA noted that last year, the town had the biggest rice production yield in the province with 7.1 tons per hectare.

Himamaylan has R391,776 worth of damage covering 9.04 has. affecting nine farmers.

The bug sucks the contents of rice grains in the milking stage, causing moisture loss and discoloration.

The pest has a dirty-brown color and is half the size of the Rice Black Bug, with bigger front legs.

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation recently included them in the insurance coverage for RGB damages this year after the provincial government submitted a letter to its president Jovy Bernabe last December.

Masculino said experts from Bureau of Plant Industry and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños will be coming in Negros to study the spreading of the pest that was discovered to be infesting rice areas last August.

In the second half of 2017, cases of RGB infestation in south Negros were reported with damage placed at R8.4 million.

About 31 packs of bio-controlling fungi Metarhizium anisopliae from the Department of AgricultureWestern Visayas Regional Crop Protection Center were distributed to Pontevedra and Himamaylan, Masculino said.

He advised farmers to adopt the synchronous planting of rice to minimize pest damage.