THE Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) assured all the local government units (LGUs) in the region of enough pesticide stocks in case an insect attack would occur.
Bienvenido Acabal Jr., Regional Crop Protection Center Chief of DA-7, said during the Kapihan sa PIA forum held at the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. last June 28 that there were available pesticide buffers for all LGUs to combat pests that might invade their crops.
Pesticide buffer refers to a place in every province under the Central Visayas where LGUs can get the needed pesticides.
In Cebu province, the pesticide buffer is located at the Provincial Agriculture Technology Coordinating Office (PATCO) in the DA-7 compound.
Acabal also said that each LGU has a crop technician (either for rice or corn) tasked to check a farmer’s claim of a pest attack. The technician will then report the matter to PATCO before the LGU can acquire the chemicals.
The initiative has been implemented in previous years, but Acabal said that for this year, instead of using a centralized scheme, they stationed it in every province including Negros Oriental, which was formerly under the Central Visayas region and now part of Negros Island Region.
“We did not neglect Negros since they still need our assistance,” Acabal said in Cebuano.
Acabal also emphasized the various training programs they implemented since last year to improve farmers’ knowledge in fighting crop pests, including army worms, black bugs, locusts and rodents.
He also added that even if there were incidents of pest attacks in Bayawan City and Sta. Catalina town in Negros Oriental during the first and second week of June, farmers should not be afraid.
“The damage is just minimal so they (farmers) must prepare instead of being afraid,” Acabal said in Cebuano.
He also advised the farmers not to wait for the pests to attack their crops before taking any action.
“They must check the adjacent land first for presence of any pests. Usually, in the weedy portion of the land,” he said in Cebuano. /UP Cebu Intern Amy A. Macalinao