BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Farmers reeling from damage to crops caused by the El Niño weather event are now facing a creeping threat from Army worms, sending Capitol’s chief agriculturist on another alert for potential damage to agricultural production.
“We will have it monitored by our agriculturists who are already in the field,” Dina Genzola, acting Provincial Agriculturist at Capitol, told DNX, even as her office is still completing damage reports from 32 localities in the province hit by a long drought brought by the El Niño weather event.
As of last month, Capitol reported crop damages to rice and corn amounting to close to P200 million in 25 localities alone, mainly in the south where the cities of Himamaylan and Kabankalan are among the areas on top of the list.
Representative Emilio Jose Bernardino Yulo, whose Fifth District covers areas with the most damage, was quoted in a report over RMN dyHB’s Targetanay sa Udto program that Armyworms have started to attack crops in the towns of Binalbagan and Isabela, and Himamaylan City.
In Himamaylan, village chief Kerwin Tongson confirmed the reported presence of Armyworms in Carabalan, an upland village in the southern Negros Occidental city.
The attack of the worms, larvae of moths who lay eggs at night, comes amid the recent drought brought by the El Niño weather event that brought extensive crop damage to farmers.
