LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist admitted it is helpless in containing the cecid fly, a pest that attacks many mango plantations in Pangasinan and other provinces.
Provincial Agriculture Officer Dalisay Moya said they could only advise mango tree owners to sanitize their fields so they will not be susceptible to the cecid fly.
Mario Garcia, president of the Pangasinan Mango Growers Association, reported that 80 percent of the standing mango trees in the province have already been attacked by the pest.
Cecid flies cause black spots in the skin of mango fruit, ultimately causing it to rot and drop from the tree.
Garcia said it appears that no amount of pesticide can exterminate the pest. He predicts that there will not be enough ripe mango fruits to be sold in the market soon.
Moya said bagging is the only means being resorted to by plantation owners to save mango fruits from the cecid fly. She said her office has trained some people on bagging techniques.
Garcia, however, observed that many of the bagged mango fruits nevertheless dropped to the ground.
Moya also called on mango growers to prune the branches of their trees often, and to adopt fogging as well.
She recalled that in the past, there was no cecid fly to contain as farmers always fogged their mango trees when they were still flowering.
Many mango growers in Pangasinan are crying for help because they fear not being able to recover the money they have spent on pesticide alone. (PNA)
