DA aids onion farmers affected by armyworm infestation in Ecija, Tarlac
TO avert the adverse damage of armyworm infestation to onions, the Department of Agriculture immediately provided assistance to affected onion farmers in several towns in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said that based on the data of the DA Regional Field Office lll, there are 366 hectares out of the 10,217 hectares of farmlands planted to onion have been infested by armyworms – the caterpillar-like larvae stage of what would eventually become moths.
Panganiban, however, reported that of the infested areas, only crops in 6.9 hectares were totally damaged while 359.1 hectares sustained partial damage.
Affected areas are in the towns of Bongabon and Talavera, Palayan City in Nueva Ecija, and the towns of Anao and San Manuel in Tarlac. No infestation was reported in Bataan, Pampanga, and Zambales.
Around 87 percent of areas planted with onion have red varieties while 13 percent are planted with white onions. The rest are planted to shallots.
Armyworms are destructive pests that got their names from their army-like movement in agricultural fields. They usually consume turf grass but would eat any vegetation in their path. They can be controlled using neem oil-based sprays or with biological controls like earwigs, spiders, and predatory wasps.
Panganiban disclosed that since December, the High-Value Crops Development Program of the DA has provided 2.07 tons of onion seeds worth P30.4 million to farm areas in Central Luzon while BPI and the Regional Crop Protection Center have provided pheromone lures, neem oil-based-insecticides and technical assistance to affected onion growers.
An additional 1.3 tons of red and white onion seeds worth P20.3 million and four cold storage for onions valued at P168 million will also be provided to onion-producing areas.
The local government units also pledged to buy more organic insecticides and pheromone lures to deal with armyworms.
