Rats, tungro virus affect 405 has. rice land in Aklan
Rats and tungro virus have affected 405 hectares of rice land in the province of Aklan. The agriculture department and the town officials have already put in place measures to contain the pest infestation and crop disease.
The report on Aklan’s pest infestation and crop disease was furnished by Department of Agriculture 6 Director Larry Nacionales to DA Secretary Arthur Yap.
However, the press report provided to TNT on the pest infestation and crop diseases did not identify the affected rice growing municipalities in the province.
The provincial government of Aklan is extending assistance to rice farmers to contain the pest infestation, said William Castillo, Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA).
In 2008, palay production in Aklan went down by 8.7% from 141,574 metric tons in 2007 to only 129,258 MT last year mainly because of typhoons and pest infestations and reduction in the area harvested by 2,631 hectares.
The provincial government and the agriculture department have called for community action towards eradication of rats. They recommended that rat hunting activities can be undertaken prior to the seeding of rice crops. Rats are aggregated in habitats along margins of the cropped fields.
Tungro is caused by the rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTSV). The infestation is characterized by spotted leaves, mild to severe stunting, mild yellowing of leaves, and yellow to orange leaves of the rice plants according to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Phil Rice),
The only means of transmission of the tungro virus is through the green leafhopper that feeds on young and susceptible rice plants, the DA report said.
With the report from the regional office, Yap assured that the agriculture department will provide the affected farmers aid in form of seeds and additional training.
The training will help the farmers adopt better pest management. The sufficient knowledge on pest management practices are deemed effective by the agriculture department in the spread of pest infestation and crop diseases.
The farmers are urged to seek the help of municipal agriculture officers who will help them adopt better crop production and pest management practices.
The agriculture secretary believes the massive information campaign and training of farmers’ fields’ school and palay check program could effectively minimize the effects of the infestation in Aklan.
The DA will train the farmers how to program their planting and harvest schedule. Better seed varieties will be distributed to farmers in the next planting season to control the infestation.