DA help sought vs. ‘alarming’ mango pulp weevil

The urgent help of the Department of Agriculture (DA) was sought against the alarming infestation of mango pulp weevil in the province.

Board Member Albert Rama sponsored a resolution calling on Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to comprehensively arrest the spread of weevil infestation in Palawan. Board Member Rama said that the infestation is now alarming that it need a “massive control” because the pulp weevil infestation is now spreading from southern to northern part of Palawan. “Massive ang pulp weevil infestation, ano? Dati sa parte lang yan ng south pero ngayon pati north meron na,” he said.

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He cited records of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – Palawan showing the island has 3,263 hectares of mango farms with 326,300 trees producing 22,788.16 metric tons of mango fruits. Rama also said that mango is supposed to be one of the major produce but is not sold due to infestation, which in return affects the livelihood of farmers. “Malaki kasi ang epekto nito sa income ng mga farmers na may tanim na mangga.

Actually, sa dami na ng mango trees sa Palawan. Supposed to be major industry na sya, pero dahil sa mango pulp weevil infestation, hindi maka-move ang mango industry ng Palawan,” said BM Rama.

Rama also stressed that with the fact that northern part is now being affected by the weevil infestation, it signifies that the measures already implemented by the DA is not enough. “The fact na nakakalat na sya at nag sisimula na sa north, ibig sabihin hindi sufficient yung kanilang mga measures, kasi kung sufficient yung mga measures nila hindi kakalat sa north yan,” he added.

Edison Bauzon, supervisor for Mango Pulp Weevil monitoring of the agriculture department said that the DA is continously monitoring to update and prevent the spread of MPW while still waiting for the release of funds.

“Continous po yung monitoring namin para ma-update ang spread at makagawa ng hakbang para maprevent ang further spread nito. Mayron din po kaming program to control the MPW waiting lang po s release ng fund,” Bauzon told the Palawan Daily News.