PHP 17.5-B LOSS LOOMS: RSSI outbreak threatens Negros sugar, other crops

BACOLOD CITY — The Sugar Regulatory Administration is pushing for urgent, coordinated action against a Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) outbreak that has now been validated across nearly 13,800 hectares of sugarcane in the Negros Island Region, with Negros Occidental absorbing the heaviest damage.

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona warned that the infestation could translate into as much as PHP 17.5 billion in lost sales if it is not contained.

Azcona said a 30 percent drop in Negros Occidental’s output would be equivalent to 390,000 metric tons, or close to 20 percent of national production.

Negros Occidental produces 64 percent of the country’s sugar and remains the top sugar-producing province.

Azcona noted that RSSI caused an estimated 10 to 12 percent drop in sugar production last year, and that the area hit this year is close to double that, putting national output at risk.

Azcona and United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) President Manuel Lamata briefed Governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on the extent of the damage at the SP Session Hall of the Provincial Capitol on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.

Acting Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez IV, board members, and other sugar industry stakeholders also attended.

As of June 21, a total of 76,607 hectares, or 32.02 percent, of the region’s 239,215.62 hectares planted for Crop Year 2025-2026 had been reported hit by RSSI.

Of these, 13,797 hectares have been validated as affected, involving 5,258 farmers across the region.

In Negros Occidental, 61,242 hectares, or 32.18 percent, of sugarcane lands were reported hit, with 12,332 validated hectares affecting 4,726 farmers.

In Negros Oriental, 15,366 hectares, or 31.42 percent, were reported hit, with 1,465 validated hectares affecting 532 farmers.

Azcona described the RSSI outbreak as a “very, very serious problem” that had become full-blown after the prolonged dry season.

“RSSI now is an outbreak after the dry season, so it is a very serious problem,” he said.

He called the pest “one of the most serious challenges currently facing the sugar industry.”

Azcona said a state of calamity is necessary to hasten the release of funds and aid from national agencies and local governments.

Lacson said the province will stay under a state of calamity, but that he has asked the Provincial Legal Office whether a previous declaration remains in effect or whether a new one is needed.

The provincial government placed Negros Occidental under a state of calamity last year because of a destructive tropical cyclone and the RSSI outbreak, Lacson said.

He said the legal review will determine the most appropriate course of action before any new resolution is pursued.

Azcona said PHP 404 million has been mobilized against RSSI, with PHP 177 million from SRA corporate funds and PHP 228 million from the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA).

The SRA has been producing entomopathogenic fungi to counter the pest, but Azcona said its laboratory cannot produce enough supply.

He said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has allowed the SRA to use any Department of Agriculture laboratory to expand production.

Lacson said he is determining the cost of setting up a laboratory in the province, which the provincial government may help fund.

Lamata recommended that the government allocate PHP 200 million for aerial spraying of insecticides over sugarcane fields across Negros Island.

Lacson said he would consult the health sector on whether aerial spraying is safe, noting that mass spraying in other countries had only temporarily solved similar problems.

Lacson said the province would work closely with Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria on a coordinated, island-wide response.

RSSI attaches to leaves and drains a plant’s nutrients and sap, causing the leaves to yellow, wilt, and dry up.

The pest has also spread from sugarcane to other crops, including corn and vegetables, widening the threat to the wider farm sector.

On Wednesday, Lacson agreed to issue an executive order creating a province-wide task force against RSSI, former Negros Occidental Governor Rafael Coscolluela said.

Coscolluela, now an adviser to the president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc., met with Lacson at the Governor’s Office in Bacolod City together with Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation Inc. (PHILSURIN) Director General Gina Martin and other stakeholders.

“The sad thing is RSSI is here to stay, so we need to have a permanent structure and mechanism in place to control the pest,” Coscolluela said.

“RSSI attacks anything with leaves,” he said. “The focus now is not just on sugarcane, but on the pest itself, which needs control.”

Coscolluela said the task force must bring surveillance and mapping down to the barangay level because real-time data on the infestation is lacking.

“What we are facing now is that while we know the problem is here, we don’t know the exact numbers to date. We do not have real-time data,” he said.

He said biocontrol agents can be produced in the laboratories of the SRA, PHILSURIN, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, and the First Farmers Association, with sugar mills also urged to set up their own.

Coscolluela said an existing executive order already declares a state of calamity against RSSI in Negros Occidental, which could serve as the basis for further action.

Department of Agriculture-Negros Island Region Director Jose Albert Barrogo has urged affected farmers to coordinate with their SRA mill district offices to access chemicals and other interventions against the pest.

Monitoring and validation continue as authorities work on intervention measures and assistance programs for affected sugarcane farmers.