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Ilocos Sur vegetable farmers advocate IPM |
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Written by The WebTeam
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Monday, 15 February 2010 |
Average user rating0.0out of 5DA-PhilRice produced a new batch of farmer-advocates of integrated pest management (IPM) who graduated from the Season-long Farmers’ Field School on IPM in onion or garlic production in the municipalities of Sinait and Narvacan, Ilocos Sur on Jan. 19 and Feb 5, respectively. The 23 onion farmers from Sinait and 32 garlic farmers from Narvacan were trained on IPM technologies by the PhilRice’s Integrated Pest Management-Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM-CRSP) implementers.
According to Herminia Rapusas, pest expert of PhilRice and national coordinator of IPM-CRSP, IPM is a package of environment-friendly technologies integrating physical, biological, and cultural pest management approaches.
The farmers’ field school (FFS) taught farmers IPM technologies from seed preparation to harvesting and storage through weekly lectures and actual field works. Each FFS site was facilitated by agricultural technicians who were previously trained on IPM in vegetables by DA-PhilRice through the IPM-CRSP.
Among the highlighted environment-friendly technologies taught to farmers during the FFS were the preparation and use of fungi particularly Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM) and Trichoderma sp. ─ biological control agents against common insect pests and diseases in vegetables.
According to Rapusas, VAM is a biofertilizer that helps plants to efficiently absorb water and nutrients from the soil, thereby decreasing chemical fertilizer use by 60 to 80 percent. Trichoderma sp., on the other hand, is a biofungicide that helps prevent the occurrence of soil-borne diseases and reduce farmers’ fungicide use.
“With the technology we have learned, as we increase our yield, we also take care of our environment,” Frederick Inay, one of the FFS graduates, said.
Non-FFS participants were also invited by the graduates as a strategy to convince them to participate in the next FFS on IPM in vegetables.
In his message to the farmer attendees, Sinait Mayor Marlon Ines said, “I hope that you will share what you have learned to other farmers to bring progress to Sinait as producer of high quality onion.”
The IPM-CRSP is a USAID-funded initiative implemented in the Philippines through DA-PhilRice to promote cost-reducing and environment-friendly technologies among farmers in rice-based farming systems. | Average user rating | There are no user reviews for this item
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Last Updated ( Monday, 15 February 2010 )
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