42 farm schools in San Carlos City help in pest management

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – Some 42 out of the 74 villages in this city have established their own Farmers Field Schools (FFS) that are aiding the city in the maintenance of farms as well as in the management of pests.

City Agriculturist Estrellita Jacaban said in an interview on Saturday that the FFS use biological control (biocon) agents to protect their corn fields against fall armyworm, a polyphagous insect that feeds mainly on maize or corn and more than 80 other crops, including wheat, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton.

Jacaban said they have technicians who train the participant farmers in the FFS.

“Ang mga technicians natin ay updated sa technology, ina-apply na rin ito sa mga FFS natin kung saan nagkakaroon ng training ang mga participant-farmers. Ina-apply na rin nila agad ang kanilang natututunan sa kanilang mga maisan (The technicians are updated in technology. This is also being applied in the FFS where they hold training of the participant-farmers. The farmers apply the training on their own field),” Jacaban said.

She said the biocon agents are processed at the Regional Crop Protection Center where it is produced and distributed to the local government units (LGUs) for the use of FFS participants.

Since September or before the corn cropping season, Jacaban said they have not monitored any severely fall armyworm-affected fields.

“So far, there were no severely affected corn fields. Before corn cropping in September, we held corn symposia in all the villages. We were focused on fall armyworm as it is the most dangerous insect globally. We appreciate that the farmers are willing to learn,” she said.

She added other villages with farmers’ associations in the city will soon have their FFS as the funding has been secured by the Office of the Mayor.

“There is no problem with regards to budget for the agriculture office as Mayor Julier Resuello has been prioritizing the agriculture sector,” she said.

The city government is a Hall of Fame awardee in corn production hence many of the LGUs visit them to benchmark or look at their best practices and the technology they use. (PNA)

 

 

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https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1196056
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