New farming innovation to help increase yield, prevent crop disease
City of San Fernando— Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) Director Marlita Carlos said that the recently commercialized plant growth promoter of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is effective in helping rice crops resist tungro disease and leaf blight.
Carrageenan Plant Growth Promoter (PGP), which the DOST had been promoting for farming applications after it was proven to be compatible with different cropping systems, helps develop rice resistance against rice tungro virus and bacterial leaf blight.
Rice tungro disease is caused by the combination of two viruses, which are transmitted by leafhoppers. It causes leaf discoloration, stunted growth, reduced tiller numbers and sterile or partly filled grains.
Tungro infects cultivated rice, some wild rice relatives and other grassy weeds commonly found in rice paddies. Meanwhile, bacterial blight is caused by
Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. It causes wilting of seedlings and yellowing and drying of leaves.
Carlos said that the plant growth promoter had been shown to improve rice resistance to tungro virus and bacterial leaf blight based on several field tests of cultivated rice in different r egi ons.
Carrageenan also helps in strengthening the rice crops' extensive root systems, which can better withstand the effects of lodging during typhoons.
The PGP also had the effect of driving away harmful pests without harming insects and arthropods which are naturally beneficial to crops. Not only does the PGP increase the number of cavans, but it also made each cavan heavier and fully-laden with rice. With the PGP, farmers could earn up to an additional P16,000, an increase in income by over 19 percent.
Red seaweed extract carrageenan, which is widely used in the food industry as an additive, has now been successfully processed for agricultural use as a foliar fertilizer that is expected to boost rice production and pest resistance.
The DOST had in fact made the technology available to the private sector in Central Luzon r ecen t l y.
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - The number 1 most wanted personality of this capital city was arrested by local authorities over the weekend.
Police Regional Office III Director Brigadier General Valeriano De Leon identified the suspect as Oliver Parungao, a resident of Barangay San Felipe her e.
Parungao was arrested by virtue of arrest warrant for a rape case issued by Family Court Branch 9 Judge Hon. Rohermia Jamsani-Rodriguez.
De Leon said the arrest of Parungao is part of the police's campaign to make all offenders accountable the law.
“We continue to step-up our campaign to eradicate all forms of criminality including intensification of manhunt operations against wanted persons within the region and we will not stop until we have accounted them all," he said.