LAGAWE, Ifugao — The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPAG) in Ifugao is asking for an intervention to help the province solve the problem of numerous pests affecting the rice terraces.
David Kimmayong, OPAG focal person for rice said on Wednesday farmers continue to battle infestations brought about by snails, rats, giant worms, eels locally known as “kiwet”, and most recently, the wireworm. Snail pests were reported in the 80s, the giant worms and eels in the 90s, while the wireworm was monitored in 2016.
Kimmayong explained that several researches were done in the past, saying that “lime powder” can kill the giant worms that cause holes on the soil, which leads to the destruction of the terraces walls.
However, there was no sufficient supply of such powder in the province.
The eels also cause the same destruction.
The latest pest discovered, the wireworm, the officer said, covers the rice seedlings on seedbeds, preventing them from growing for transplanting on the rice paddies of the terraces, where only organic native rice are being grown.
He pointed out that while there is a pest management program under the Department of Agriculture, the supply of pest controls is dependent on the program for the year of the department, thus, the irregular supply provided to the province.
Kimmayong said that at present, the agricultural office in Ifugao is trying to experiment on the use of carbonated rice hull, which is scattered on the seedbed to try to prevent wireworms from destroying the rice seedlings.
He shared that some farmers are resorting to planting twice the required seeds to make sure that while some are killed by the wireworms, there will still be seedlings that will survive.
Province-wide, Kimmayong said farmers are planting simultaneously as a measure to control pests aside from planting different heirloom rice varieties.
He said that while heirloom or native rice production continues to thrive despite the many challenges, Ifugao farmers also want to increase their yield not only to contribute to the rice sufficiency of the country but also for better income for them.
“We hope that more researches and a viable long-term solution to the problem of pests that thrive on the terraces will be introduced,” Kimmayong said. (Liza Agoot/PNA)
