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A broader look at todayâs business Sunday, June 9, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 236
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A WAR ON WORMS IN WARM WEATHER
A FARMER opens a corn husk to check for Fall armyworms on a farm in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur. ERWIN M. MASCARIĂAS
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By Erwin M. Mascariñas
UTUAN CITYâWhile still recovering after the massive damage to their agriculture area from the flood waters that submerged their farmland in February this year, Mario Cabahug, 66, fears that the worst is yet to come as the intense heat combined with the emergence of an invasive worm species sinks further their hopes of recovery.
Amid rising temperatures, alien worm invasion devastates previously flooded farms in Caraga Region
A FARMER displays Fall armyworms that were removed from hundreds of infested corn plants. ERWIN M. MASCARIĂAS
A FALL armyworm curls up after the husk of a corn was opened, revealing damaged kernels. ERWIN M. MASCARIĂAS
Cabahug, a farmer since he was a boy, expressed his helplessness as he faced the rising crisis on his small farm in Purok 8, Barangay Nato, in the town of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur province. âIâve never experienced anything like this in my entire life, Iâve hoped that after the massive flood that swept this land, I could recover from whatever Iâve lost; but just as the flood waters receded from the constant heavy rains, al-
in the vegetative stage had been infested by the Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), a voracious invasive species from eastern and central North and South America that first appeared in the province of Cagayan in 2019. With a voracious appetite, the Fall armyworm, better known as FAW, is the larval stage of a Grey-brown moth, an adult moth that is usually 1-1 â4 to 1-1 â 2 inches from wing tip to wing tip, with
most immediately the intense heat killed what little portion of vegetables Iâve planted, and the only hope I had was on the corn, but now they are also dying,â said Cabahug. Based on the May 27 damage assessment report from the Agusan del Sur Provincial Agriculture and Veterinary Office, the towns of Bunawan, Esperanza, Loreto, Trento, Lapaz, Santa Josefa, Talacogon, San Luis and Bayugan City reported that planted corn mostly
a brown or gray forewing, and a white hindwing. âThe reports from the field started coming in March. We then dispatched our teams to verify the situation asâŠinitially only the towns of Esperanza and Loreto were affected. By April the FAW had already spread to more towns affecting several barangays. Most of the affected corn are in their vegetative stage,â said Armando G. Valiente, provincial
agriculturist of Agusan del Sur. Valiente said this is the first time the province experienced such kind of pest infestation of corn crops, affecting around 2,427 farmers with a total land area of 3,963 hectaresâwith a total value of the damage at P56,451,692, a sum that is feared to rise as the area affected is still growing. The town of La Paz reported the largest area damaged among all the municipalities with 1,435.10
hectares affecting 12 barangays with a value of 24,330,350.70.
Climate-linked infestation CABAHUG said he had experienced the drought that affected their farm in 1983 for several months, but even if this yearâs heat from the El Niño phenomenon had only been two months, the battle is so much different. âUnlike the dry hot months in the drought of 1983, this year we have to worry about the worms that have infested our corn crops before it might be hot, and it might hinder productivity, but at least there are still crops that will survive. Now you have two problems, the intense heat and then the worms that will eat away the money we have borrowed to plant this season,â said Cabahug. âWe are fighting two fronts, two enemies, itâs a losing battle,â Cabahug added. âThe damage is massive: usually in a hectare we will harvest 120 sacks of corn but now I doubt thatâŠeven 50 percent can be harvested. Our corn is still growing, yet amid all our efforts like spraying pesticides, and even using different brands just to find something that will be effective, the worms continue to wreak havoc on our crops.â While field validation is still being done, preliminary data from the Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC) of the Department of Agriculture Caraga Region showed a total of 770 farmers were affected by the FAW infestation that damaged around 1,378.65 hectares of agricultural land area in Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Butuan City and a small area in the municipality of Cagdianao in the Dinagat Island province. Ana Marie Plaza, Officer-inCharge, RCPC of DA Caraga, said they monitored the FAW in the region in 2020. Still, this cropContinued from A1
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