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Published by Crop Pest Management Division
The Department of Agriculture – National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program (DA-NUPAP) and Bureau of Plant Industry – Crop Pest Management Division (BPI-CPMD) successfully concluded the DA-NUPAP Pest Conference conducted last October 22-24, 2024 at the Manila Prince Hotel, Manila.
The program kicked off on October 22, welcoming 200 participants consisting of urban and peri-urban farmers, plant enthusiasts, government and private organizations, and other stakeholders coming from the different parts of Luzon. More than 3,000 online viewers also joined the event through livestream on Facebook pages of NUPAP, BPI, and BPI-CPMD.
BPI and NUPAP Director Dr. Gerald Glenn F. Panganiban, and BPI Assistant Director for Research, Development, and Production Support Service and NUPAP Deputy Director Dr. Herminigilda A. Gabertan gave their respective warm welcome for the guests and participants. On behalf of DA Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Mr. Daniel Alfonso N. Atayde, Assistant Secretary for Logistics, gave his warm regards and emphasized the impact of crop pests and diseases in the food security, hence, the urgency of addressing these.
This was followed by the discussions of Mr. Israel Q. Dela Cruz, Department Manager of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, Mr. Gideon Aries S. Burgonio, University Researcher II of the National Crop Protection Center, Mr. Orlando A. Calcetas, Senior Science Research Specialist of the DA-Regional Office IV-A, and Dr. Luis Rey I. Velasco, Consultant of BPI-CPMD. Their presentations stressed the impacts of climate change on crop pests and disease occurrences and how to address it that includes risk mitigation through crop insurance and implementing sustainable and integrated pest management strategies.
Further discussions on the identification of natural enemies and beneficial arthropods, as well as the common insect pests for urban and peri-urban crops and their management were presented and led by the BPI-CPMD Division Chief Dr. Peter M. Magdaraog and Dr. Sheryl A. Yap from the Institute of Weed Science, Entomology, and Plant Pathology (IWEP), UP Los Baรฑos (UPLB), respectively. The first day of the program was concluded by Ms. Russ-Uzi Mayenne A. Ebora, Senior Agriculturist and BPI-CPMD Biological Control and IPM Section Chief, with her presentation on the pest management interventions of BPI for urban and peri-urban agriculture.
Learnings and fruitful discussions continued on the second day of the conference on October 23. Identification of common weeds, storage insect pests, and common diseases in urban and peri-urban areas and their respective management strategies were presented and discussed by IWEP-UPLB Professors Dr. Analiza Henedina M. Ramirez and Mr. Jose Emmanuel I. De Luna and De La Salle University Professor Dr. Mark Angelo O. Balendres.
Dr. Celia DR. Medina, Scientist and Director of IWEP-UPLB, presented the practical approaches to insecticide resistance management while Mr. Sherwin A. Hermosa, Assistant Vice President of LEADS Agricultural Products Corporation, introduced the use of biopesticides. Meanwhile, Ms. Mary Joyce Villacorte-Gaviola, Program Manager of East-West Seed PH Foundation, and Reigine Reyes, SPS Technical and Business Development Lead of Syngenta shared different pest management strategies that includes both the use of organic and synthetic pesticides. Lastly, Ms. Carla Kristine M. Silva, Alumna Scholar of National Taiwan University (SEARCA Joint Scholarship) shared her thesis study on leaf disease identification and severity estimation using deep learning methods.
Aside from the very informative and comprehensive presentations by various resource speakers, the participants also enjoyed learning through the booth exhibits prepared by the BPI – Crop Pest Management Division (CPMD), Agricultural Engineering Division (AED), Crop Research and Production Support Division (CRPSD), National Plant Quarantine Services Division (NPQSD), Pedro Farms, Syngenta, and East-West Seed PH Foundation.
The week-long conference ended on October 24 with the distribution of certificates of the participants and closing remarks from BPI Assistant Director for Research, Development, and Production Support Service Dr. Herminigilda A. Gabertan.
