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DA upscales rice pest management system

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ILOILO CITY (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) 6, in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is innovating new climate-smart pest management systems with replicable practices to address the emerging and future pest problems in the country.

Key persons from IRRI, DA National Rice Program, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Philippine Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Regional Field Offices from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, and SOCCSKSARGEN recently convened here for a two-day inception workshop to develop an innovation system for climate smart pest management in rice.

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This gathering also aims to address the serious threat of crop pests and diseases to the country’s rice production.

In a DA news release, Dr. Lilia Portales, senior technical staff member at the Office of the BPI Director, emphasized the workshop’s goal to identify and address gaps in rice pest management research and operations.

“With the global shift in temperature, precipitation, and weather patterns brought about by climate change, studies reported that the distribution and severity of crop pests are believed to be associated with these occurrences, thus, 

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there is a need to come up with an immediate and effective action plan to keep up with the challenges in crop pests’ management,” said Portales.

Project implementers and stakeholders created strategies for new guides, tools, and plans related to surveillance of crop health and pathogen population structure, biological control agents, and sustainability.

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The DA and partners plan to adopt a climate-smart pest management system in the three pilot areas to generate key results on the most effective pest control approaches that will be disseminated in other regions.

With this, IRRI Senior Associate Scientist Dr. Nancy Castilla noted that the system they have developed targets to reduce crop losses caused by pests, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance ecosystem services, and ensure the environmental and economic resilience of rice farmers.

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Further, DA 6 Regional Executive Director Dennis R. Arpia urged the Regional Crop Protection Center to mobilize the local farmer technicians for regular field monitoring and prompt reporting of crop pest incidents to prevent outbreaks.

Arpia also suggested that the DA should focus on improving crop pest control measures and increasing technology adoption among farmers. (AAL/AGP/PIA 6)

About the Author

April Grace Padilla

Information Officer II

Region 6

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