DA gives aid to rubber plantations

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) approved the release of P110 million additional funds requested by the Philippine Rubber Research Institute (PRRI) to address the infestation of rubber plantations in Basilan.

According to the DA, an outbreak of Pestalotiopsis disease was reported in more than 800 hectares of plantation in the province, infecting 40 to 100 percent of the trees.

Pestalotiopsis leaf fall disease can cause gradual falling of leaves.

If left untreated, it will cause the tree to become leafless.

Leaf fall or defoliation results in the decrease in the number of canopy of the rubber plant which decreases its latex production.

The DA added that PRRI formed a team of experts to oversee the treatment of the affected rubber farms. ”Coordination with the provincial government of Basilan has also been undertaken for the swift execution of control measures,” the DA added.

In 2022, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the disease poses risk, which may result in defoliation of up to 90 percent and latex yield reduction of up to 50 to 80 percent.

The DA said under a one-year treatment plan, the rubber trees will undergo mist fogging, drone aerial spraying of fungicide, fertilization and weed management.

”The fungi Pestalotiopsis sp. which cause leaf fall disease can co-infect other pathogens and may cross-infect other crops, such as mango and palms which are also massively produced in BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” it added.

The disease has already destroyed rubber plantations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other rubber-producing Asian countries, according to the DA.