Agriculture Business Week

Say goodbye to pesticides because there is now an effective, economical and safer way to control major insect pests of snap beans.

Through our study entitled Intercropping Studies of Snap Beans in Ifugao and Its Effects on Major Insect Pests and Yield, Elmer P. Comaad and this author have found out that intercropping snap beans with green onions, ampalaya, bell pepper and tomato effectively controls pod borer, leaf miner and bean fly.

This is because the crops are shielding each other from the impact of airborne pathogens and vectors. The insect pests are only used to the smell of their host crop if this is planted as monocrop. So when other crops are combined or intercropped with the host, the crops produce a different aroma, which gives the pests difficulty locating their host.

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Posted on March 23rd, 2009 under Vegetables. Tags: Beans, Intercropping, Legumes, Pests, Snap Beans. Comments: None

The Rice Black Bug infests rice plants at all stages of growth. This is why it could be considered as one of the most difficult rice pest to control. But according to studies conducted in Agusan, the bug wouldn’t he a serious concern if properly managed.

In studies led by PhilRice crop protection specialist Elisco H. Batayan, it was observed that soon after the black bug egg mass population reaches its peak, egg parasitism also subsequently reaches its peak.

The experiment was conducted in farmers fields in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte and Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, where NSIC Rc122 and PSB Rc82 were used as test varieties since these are among the popular varieties in the Caraga region.

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Posted on February 19th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Bug, Pests, Rice, Rice Black Bug. Comments: None

Another book on rice insect pests and diseases was published by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) last year Titled “Outsmarting rice pests and diseases”, it could have been another book on the description of insect pests and diseases as well as their signs of infestation and general recommendations. What made it different from earlier publications is that it included a chapter on the practices of farmers.

The technical portion of the book was written by Dr. Lina B. Flor-Weiler, Dr. Truong Hoai Xuan, Ms. Herminia R. Rapusas, and Ana Vida C. Alcala. On the other hand, the accounts on farmers’ pest and disease control practice were written by Myriam Layaoen and Jaime Manalo IV.

In the introduction of the chapter on farmers’ practices, Layaoen and Manalo said each story reflects the diverse attitudes and approaches on how farmers deal with insect pests and diseases. They wrote:

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Posted on January 29th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Book, Disease, Insect, Pests, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: None

Rat infestation is the major problem in ricefields in Llanera, Nueva Ecija. And one farmer here has successfully controlled these as well as other pests by adopting improved farm practices of the Philippine Rice Research Institute(PhilRice).

He is Macario Bautista. Two decades ago, this 47-year-old PhilRice farmer leader had almost lost all his potential harvests from his 25-hectare farm due to rat infestation. This incidence taught him the importance of a clean farm. So since then, he thoroughly cleans the field residues where his crops would grow.

During land preparation, a stage when rats start to thrive in the field because of the transplanting season, Macario makes and places a bamboo trap filled with ricebran (darak) treated with zinc phosphide on top of the dike(pilapio). The barrier helps control the initial infestation at this crucial stage of the rice crop.

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Posted on January 24th, 2009 under Agri Tips, Farming. Tags: Nueva Ecija, Pests, PhilRice, Rat. Comments: None

As of 2003, 56 percent of the rice terraces in Banaue, Hungduan, and Mayoyao has been damaged by giant earthworms (Pheretima elongate), resulting in very low production and erosion.

Farmers tried to eradicate these pests which grow from 6 to 20 inches long, and burrow in the dikes of rice paddies by pounding the soil. This, however, did not work. And thus, many farmers have left Banaue which resulted in the abandonment of 30 percent of the terraces.

To preserve the rice terraces, the Ifugao State College of Agriculture and Forestry funded a laboratory study of these authors on the eradication of the giant earthworms.

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Posted on December 2nd, 2008 under Rice. Tags: Earthworm, Marigold, Pests, Rice. Comments: None

Rice farmers may as well get a copy of the booklet titled “Insect Pest Diagnostic Kit” so that they could easily identify the 13 insect pests in rice fields and quickly estimate the damage that any of these pests would inflict on their crop.

Written by Dr. Truong Hoai Xuan, Herminia R. Rapusas, Dr. Rolando T. Cruz, and Dr. Lina B. Flor-Weiler, all of PhilRice, the kit is published in Filipino, Iluko, and Cebuano. It is translated by Luzveminda R. Truong and Evelyn M. Valdez. Copies of the diagnostic kit can be bought at the PhilRice Income Generating Office for P95 each.

This diagnostic kit should come as a handy reference for rice farmers and rice extension workers as it describes the appearance of the insect pests at different stages of development in a-very simple manner. For easier and faster identification of each insect pest, PhilRice included in the kit colored photos of the pest at various stages of development and the damages it caused.

It classifies the insect pests according to the major damage they inflict on rice plants: root feeders (white grub, mole cricket), stemborers (yellow stemborer, striped stemborer, white stemborer, pink stemborer), sap feeders (green leafhopper, zigzag leafhopper, brown planthopper, white-backed planthopper, rice black bug), and seed feeders (rice bugs, stink bugs). It also includes what farmers must do to practice rice integrated pest management, which we are reproducing hereafter.

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Posted on November 25th, 2008 under Rice. Tags: Farmers, Pests, Rice. Comments: 1

The first “invasion” happened in 1982 in Palawan. Farmers in the area recall collecting tons of rice black bugs (RBB) every night at the height of its invasion.

Time and again, its spread in the Visayas and Mindanao resulted in 15 to 23 percent yield loss. And its occurrence in Sorsogon in late 2005 alarmed Central Luzon, where rice is primarily grown in contiguous areas along with alternate host crops of RBB such as okra, corn and taro.

Preventing its spread and managing its occurrence are the ways to go to ensure that this invasive species does not affect current rice production. However, management techniques mostly use synthetic pesticides, which may be the only known and affordable option of farmers’ defense against RBB invasion.

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Posted on November 21st, 2008 under Rice. Tags: Bugs, Pests, Rice. Comments: 2

Like Marigold, powdered rock lime could be used to control giant earthworms (Pheretima elongate), the ruinous pest that has been damaging the Ifugao Rice Terraces.

Since powdered rock lime is used in Brazil as a source of phosphate fertilizer when mixed with manure to revitalize the soil, this author and Dr. Nancy Ann P. Gonzales thought of testing if it could be used as a control agent for giant earthworms. They also thought of testing powdered shell lime because it is also good for the soil as it is used to neutralize soil acidity.

To test the effectiveness of the materials, the researchers conducted ‘a laboratory study in the Ifugao State College of Agriculture and Forestry. They collected moist soil “and giant earthworms from an infested paddy in Banaue. And since giant earthworms are aerobic and stay favorably in moist soil approximately 1-3 feet below the paddy, during their experiment, they placed five worms in each of the 1.4 feet high plastic pails filled with moist soil.

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Posted on November 19th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Earthworm, Pests. Comments: 1