Bagsik ni harabas (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)
Onion producers in Nueva Ecija face a difficult challenge in the summertime. They claim that a pest is destroying the crops they worked hard to grow, leaving little any for them to harvest. What exactly is this threat that farmers are worried about?
JUN: Today, we caught up with Mang Rufino hurrying to his farm.
He had just heard that pests were infesting their onion crops. And when he inspected the onion leaves, his suspicions were confirmed.
Army worms, commonly known as “harabas,” are slowly eating away at the inside of his crops.
Mang Rufino: Look, there are so many of them.
JUN: The whitening onion leaves are a sign that the worms are devouring them. These pests move from leaf to leaf, laying eggs as they go. When one leaf is consumed, they move on to the next.
JUN: Hoping to save what he could, Mang Rufino sought help to harvest his crops as quickly as possible.
RUFINO: We had to take these from the worms, and they’re not even fully matured yet.
JUN: But because the worms were gradually devouring the crops, they were forced to harvest early.
They were only 70 days old, but we had to pull them out because the worms were already destroying them.
JUN: According to the National Crop Protection Center, the first outbreak of the onion army worm, or “harabas,” in the Philippines occurred during the peak of El Niño in 2016.
Nueva Ecija, known as the “Onion Capital” of the country, was the first to be affected.
It’s believed that the pests came from China, Japan, and Korea, carried by the wind to the Philippines.
The “harabas” thrive and multiply more rapidly during the summer.
Farmers like Mang Rufino have faced this problem year after year, but they say that this year’s infestation is the worst they’ve experienced in their farms.
They’ve tried using various kinds of pesticides, but the solutions they were counting on to fight off the “harabas” didn’t work.
“I don’t know why,” says Mang Rufino. “We’ve used so many treatments, but we just can’t kill them.”
Mang Rufino invested around ₱70,000 in his onion crops, including the cost of pesticides. But even now, he already knows he won’t make a profit.
“That ₱70,000 will probably go up by another ₱10,000 for fertilizer, bags, and labor for harvesting and hauling. But I doubt we’ll even make ₱100,000 from all this. I’ll still have to transport everything to the gym.”
Because of what happened, Mang Rufino says all he can do now is wait for the next planting season and hope to recover.
“It’s so difficult to grow onions, and we only get to harvest once a year. If you can still afford to buy rice after the harvest, you’re lucky.”
JUN: Before the sun set, we found Mang Ed picking off the “harabas” one by one from his crops.
He says this is the time when the “harabas,” which hide in the onion leaves, are more likely to come out.
“The onions are getting destroyed, and we can’t think of any other way to spray them, so now we’re just manually removing the worms.”
JUN: And to ensure the captured pests don’t spread to other crops…
“This is what we do. Once we pick them off, we burn them all, so they don’t spread. It’s better to just burn them.”
JUN: The next day, we saw two children at the onion field: TJ, 11 years old, and BJ, 6 years old.
Carrying their buckets, TJ patiently combed the field to gather the remaining onions, while BJ searched through the discarded leaves, hoping to find any bulbs hidden underneath.
Once their buckets were halfway full, the two friends decided to go home. They plan to sell the onions at a lower price.
“We’ll use the money for our school allowance, to buy rice, and some food.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, 18 hectares of onion plantations in the country have been destroyed by the “harabas” this year, while 2,400 hectares have been partially damaged but may still recover.
JUN: But the question remains: what is the government doing to help the country’s onion farmers recover?
JUN: One of the alternative solutions is placing onions in a cold storage facility.
In Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, the local government plans to build two cold storage facilities for the onion farmers.
At ₱250 per sack for six months, farmers can store their produce in a cold storage facility rather than selling it at a low price.
JUN: However, the current cold storage facilities are already full.
JULIUS: We’ll try to squeeze more in. But if we overfill, the quality of the onions might suffer because the cooling won’t be effective.
JUN: The local government of Bongabon has also provided aid to affected onion farmers.
According to SINAG, in addition to government assistance, it’s crucial to establish an Onion Research Center in the Philippines.
“This is essential for development and progress. We can’t rely on outdated technology.”
JUN: House Bill No. 1379, which proposes the establishment of the Philippine Onion Research Institute, was once presented in Congress. Its goal is to increase onion production in the country by creating and operating a Central Experiment Station where research would be conducted to boost the onion supply. However, the bill remains pending.
GERALD: We have something called “insect resistance.” We want to encourage Integrated Pest Management and the Philippine Good Agricultural Practice, which includes proper sanitation, correct planting methods, and planting calendars, so we can plan better.
“The farmers need to adapt, and the government needs to adapt as well.”
-Yes, definitely. We also need a sustainable budget for pest management, biosecurity, and support for our agricultural extension workers.
JUN: The “harabas” pest has already caused significant harm to small farmers in the country. They desperately need help and support right now.
“We don’t know if the government will help us with our crop problem.”
JUN: So, they can recover and grow again.
- Pages:
- 1
- 2