MAFAR trains farmers in Maguindanao del Sur, Norte on pest control

At least 45 farmers from Barira, Maguindanao del Norte and, Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur, undertook a one-day training on pest monitoring and surveillance to train them on proper identification of plant diseases, insect pests, and natural enemies of rice, corn, vegetables, and Plantation crops.

The Research and Regulatory Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform technical personnel lead the training on May 11-12.

According to Mojahed Gaga, Agriculturist II, Pest monitoring surveillance is important to many pest control strategies because it helps determine if the threshold has been reached and whether control measures have been effective.

He said that the training aims to educate the farmers on protocols and guidelines for monitoring and surveillance of important pests and diseases of crops.

Pest control involves more than simply identifying a pest and using a control tactic. The treatment site, whether an outdoor area or inside a structure, usually contains other living organisms and nonliving surroundings. These could be affected by the pest control measures chosen.

This training is important for the farmers to be knowledgeable regarding pest monitoring and pest surveillance.

In a statement, Kagawad Abdul-Basit Maliga said, “Nagpapasalamat kami sa MAFAR dahil kami ang napili niyong benepesyaryo ng pagsasanay sa pest monitoring and surveillance sa amin.”

“Napakalaking bagay ito sa aming mga magsasaka sapagkat ang pagsasaka ang pangunahing kabuhayan dito sa aming Barangay,” Maliga said.

At the end of the training, farmers received rubber boots, farmers native hats, multipurpose working gloves and knowledge that they will use on how to handle pests in their farmlands.