The Bureau of Plant Industry – Crop Pest Management Division (BPI-CPMD) technical staff along with Regional Crop Protection Center Region III (RCPC III) OIC-Chief, Ms. Trojane Soberano and Office of the Provincial Agriculturist- Zambales (OPAg) Provincial Coordinator Mr. Efren Bessara conducted field validation and monitoring of pest and diseases infestation in mango and okra on May 14-17, 2024 in the municipalities of Palauig, Candelaria and Masinloc, Zambales.
The team, in coordination with the respective Municipal Government Offices, validated thirteen sites from the said municipalities where most prevalent pests observe during the field visit were fruit flies, leafhoppers, anthracnose and sooty moldsfor mango while heavy infestation of leafhoppers was observed in okra.
Through the interview conducted with mango growers along with their sprayer-contractor during the field validation and monitoring, it was concluded that the pests were manageable due to the farmers’ practices such as fruit bagging, installation of sticky traps/attractants and spraying of insecticides and fungicides as needed. Moreover a major challenge faced by the mango growers who tied up with sprayer-contractors was the marketing of their carabao mangoes as most of the farmers have disclosed during theinterview that their mangoes were way past the harvesting stage.
