PCA ready to do battle with coconut leaf beetle

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is ready to do battle with an invasive and destructive pest of coconut and other palm species which has ravaged palms nationwide.

In January 2007, the PCA together with the Bureau of Plant Industries (BPI), local government units (LGUs) and the academe is set to pilot field tests of biological control agents against Brontispa longissima, commonly known as the coconut  leaf beetle (CLB).

The project aims to utilize entomopathogens and predators to manage the Brontispa longissima infestations in the coconut field.

Theses biological control agents will be mass produced, then their efficiency will be evaluated.

Based on the evaluation, a biological-control based CLB-management strategy will be implemented in CLB-infested areas.

A network among LGUs, NGOs, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) will also be established for a more widespread approach in the implementation of the efforts against CLB.

The project will be implemented in all CLB-infested areas nationwide for a period of two years.

Among the areas devastated by the CLB are Southern Bulacan; Southern Tagalog; Naga City and Pili in Camarines Sur; Oas, Daraga and Legzpi City in Albay; Allen, Northern Samar; and Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

The trade of ornamental palms has posed as the single biggest headache for PCA and BPI in abating the spread of B. longissima.

This trade has been identified as the most common means for the introduction of the pest to other parts of the country.

This was proven when about 80 palms from Los  Baños were transported and transplanted in the Peñafrancia Basilica grounds in Naga City, Camarines Sur when upon inspection, 43 of the palms were proven to carry the pest.

Ornamental-palm trade is also being looked at as the most probable cause of the pest’s transfer to Northern Samar. – Biolife News Service