Bautista’s onion farmers lost P169-M to ‘harabas’
ONION farmers in the municipality of Bautista lost some P169,000,360 worth of onions last 2020 to the massive infestation of army worms, locally known as harabas.
Ernesto Dorado, the town’s municipal agriculturist, said the losses equate to 4,234,000 kilos of onions, covering approximately 211.7 hectares out of total land plantation area of 481.2 hectares that regularly yield an average of 18 to 20 tons of onions, sold at P140 per kilo.
Most of the affected onion plantations were in Barangays Baluyot, Vacante, Cabuaan, Diaz, and Palisoc.
Harabas are nocturnal pest that attack and feed on the onion leaves then the bulbs, eventually killing the plant.
Suppressing the army worm larvae seems impossible, as they are too many to handle citing about 500 eggs that only require 3 days to incubate before they begin to feast on the onions.
Dorado suggested a need to change not only onion farmers’ planting schedule but to plant at the same time to effectively suppress the infestation, and synchronize spraying of chemical control.
He said when the farmers don’t plant at the same time, the desired effect of spraying of insecticide cannot be achieved.
Meanwhile, the MAO’s coordination with the Department of Agriculture Regional Office resulted in the ongoing experimental project on the affliction of harabas on Bautista’s corn products because harabas also damaged 70% of Bautista’s corn produce.
Barangay Pogo was chosen as the pilot area for the experiment. (Ahikam Pasion)
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