Getting to know bamboo pests and diseases

A survey of pests and diseases affecting bamboos in the Cordillera Region was conducted in the provinces of Abra, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Benguet.

Aurora Baldo and Fatima Tangan, researchers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DENR-CAR) conducted the survey.

Baldo and Tangan reported that the most prevalent insect pest they observed was aphids. Found in Machiku (Dendrocalamus latiflorus), giant bamboo (D. asper), Buddha’s belly (Bambusa tultoides), and yellow bamboo (B. vulgaris) and usually attacking the shoots, the aphids produce sufficient amount of honeydew which drips into the base of the culms, thus, providing a suitable place for black sooty molds to grow.

Other insect pests included the plant hopper (Purcheta purcovenosa), leaf roller (Pelopideas mathias0, tussock moth (Lymantria lunata), grasshopper (Locusta migratoria), mealybug (Planococus lilacinus) mites (Aponychus corpuze) and rodents (Rattus sp.) while the diseases included the culm blight, leaf spot, leaf rust, sooty molds, tar spot and shoot rot. These diseases were prevalent during the rainy season when the condition is conducive to fungal growth.

Culm blight which manifests as brown to black blighted spots in the culm was seen in giant bamboo, machiku and kawayang-tinik.

Observed in giant bamboo, kawayang-tinik, bayog, yellow bamboo, and anes (dinochloa sp.), leaf spot infection starts as whitish to yellowish lesion on the leaves. These spots turn brownish to dark brown causing the severely infected leaves to defoliate.

Leaf rust starts as tiny yellow lesions on the upper portion of the leaf which turns yellow to brown. These lesions coalesce to develop into necrotic areas. These were seen in giant bamboo, kawayang-tinik, bayog, yellow bamboo, Chinese bamboo and anes.

The researchers recommended the close monitoring of pests and diseases as preventive and control measures although the damage they caused was observed to be only moderate. – Leila America, S&T Media Services