Plant hoppers swarm Iloilo ricefields
About 2,200 hectares of ricefields in at least six towns in Iloilo have been attacked by brown plant hoppers and green leaf hoppers, destroying almost 600 hectares as of the weekend.
Provincial Agriculturist Ildefonso Toledo said the infestation has affected rice lands in the towns of Lemery, Barotac Viejo, Passi City, Tubungan, San Rafael and Lambunao.
The affected crops are in the vegetative, reproductive, and ripening stages.
Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. said the provincial government has already set aside P100,000 for the purchase of pesticides to control the pest attack.
Toledo said farmers should start treatment once they notice symptoms of infestation or a build-up of hoppers.
Any treatment or spraying of insecticides should be done on the lower portion of the plant because spraying over the top of the plant generally is ineffective, he said.
Toledo said the onslaught of the plant hopper can be attributed to the erratic weather condition.
“It is not true that the occurrence of plant hoppers is because of rice variety,” he said, adding that farmers should increase water depth on their farms to avoid reproduction of insects.
As of late Friday, the pests have destroyed crops in 367.5 hectares of rice lands in Lemery; 139.35 hectares in Barotac Viejo; and 30 hectares in Passi City.
In Tubungan, 105.5 hectares were affected and 55.3 hectares were damaged while in San Rafael, 900 hectares were affected.*
