Fly infestation hurts P’sinan mango production

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines – The province’s mango production suffered losses of about 90 percent due to infestation by “cecid flies” or kurikong last year, according to the president of the Mango Federation of Stakeholders in Pangasinan.

Manaoag Vice Mayor Lito Arenas, the group’s  president, said the loss has dislodged the province from being one of the country’s top mango producers.

Pangasinan supplies at least 40 percent of Region 1’s total production, as shown in the records of the Department of Agriculture. Last year, the province produced more than 120,000 metric tons of mangoes.

To lessen the threat of “cecid flies,” the provincial government sponsored a training in pest control and management last Friday at the Provincial Training and Development Center here.

Dalisay Moya, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Agriculturist Office, said the training was aimed at helping local mango growers acquire more knowledge about the pest that had been causing damage to their crops.

Celia Medina, director of Crop Protection Cluster in University of the Philippines in Los Baños, said further studies are being conducted to find out the most effective way of eradicating the pest.

“It is important that our mango growers get to know the pest well so they will know how to contain them,” she said, adding that getting enough knowledge on pest’s history is vital.

Cecid fly is one of the top pest problems in mango production. It affects developing fruits, which results in premature fruit and low quality of harvest as it leaves black marks on the skin of mangoes, making them unattractive and hard to sell.

The training was participated by growers from mango producing towns of Anda, Dasol, Mangatarem, Bugallon, Basista, Sta. Barbara, Urbiztondo, Calasiao, Mapandan, Pozorrubio, Umingan, Balungao, Sta. Maria, Rosales, Manaoag, Binalonan, Tayug and Bautista and the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta.