Farmers seek help on mango infestation

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – Bulacan farmers are alarmed over the infestation of mango orchards in the province and lamented the lack of action by agriculture officials.

The infestation, which they blamed on cecid flies, has spread in this city and in the towns of Bulakan, Guiguinto, Plaridel, and Pulilan.

“There will be no harvest in the coming months,” warned Melencio Domingo, chairman of this city’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council, as he toured The STAR to mango orchards here and in the nearby towns of Guiguinto and Plaridel.

A mango dealer himself, Domingo said the infestation has spread to orchards in other towns in the province.

According to Domingo, local farmers and dealers like him have tried chemical and organic pesticides, and even experimented on detergents and mosquito killers, but nothing worked.

“We never ask for subsidies from the government, what we are asking is that they tell us a solution in stopping the infestation,” he said.

However, regional and provincial agriculture officials said they have not received any information on the infestation.

Christina Geronimo, the fruit-bearing tree farming coordinator of the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), said farmers have not informed them about the situation.

But Domingo alleged that PAO officials like Gloria Carillo, the provincial agriculturist, and Geronimo did not answer his calls.

For his part, Felicito Espiritu, information officer of the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon, said they have also not received any reports from Bulacan.

He added though that they have received reports on cecid fly infestation in mango orchards in Zambales. 

Espiritu said there is no available pesticide that can stop the infestation, adding that only clean farm practices can address the problem.