DUMAGUETE CITY: Some 6,812 hectares of land planted with corn in Negros Oriental were hit by fall armyworms, an infestation that already reached an alarming level, an official said Thursday. Alejandro Rafal, head of the Department of Agriculture-Provincial Agriculture Technology Coordinating Office (DA-PATCO), said containment measures are being undertaken but only resulted in minimal effect. 'We are experiencing an outbreak already with around 17 towns and cities affected but it is difficult to catch up with the fast-spreading infestation because these pests hide in the corn stalks and need to be hand-picked,' Rafal said in the dialect. The DA-PATCO has already distributed chemical pesticides for spraying but only the surface of corn plants are covered and not the hard-to-reach portions like the inside of leaves and stalks where the fall armyworms hide, he added. Some hard-hit municipalities include Ayungon, Mabinay, Basay, Zamboanguita, Bacong, Amlan, and the cities of Bais, Bayawan, Guihulngan, Tanjay and Dumaguete. Rafal expressed concern that the fall armyworm infestation may soon wipe out a bigger portion of the corn industry in the province as the numbers could rise with more reports coming in from the LGUs. Recent data show that Negros Oriental has some 35,000 hectares of corn fields. Rafal hopes the national government will also financially support the farmers affected by the pest outbreak. He said the fall armyworm infestation will affect the yield performance of corn farmers and the prices of cornmeal (ground corn seeds) are almost the same as that of rice in the market due to the province's insufficient production of the staple. Source : Philippines News agency