Sorsogon City - The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has raised an alarm over a new pest that has destroyed hundreds of hectares of coconut farms in at least four provinces in the Bicol region.

        Vicente Bocalig, PCA focal person, said the new pest is known as coconut leaf beetle more known by its scientific name as Brontispa longgisima which originated from other countries in the Asian region and Australia.

        Based on the literature prepared by the PCA the insect is a flat and slender beetle colored black with a yellow-orange to reddish color of the neck and the basal portion of the wing.

        The adult beetle and its larva burrow between unopened leaflets of young coconut spears and feed on soft tissues but spare the harder veins and midribs. It causes decay and drying of affected parts which prevent the tree from bearing fruit, the literature stated.

        One of the worst hit country by the infestation was Vietnam which had to allocate $168 million just to control the insect attack.

        Bocaling told Bicol Mail in an interview that brontispa was detected in the province of Sorsogon only last March although it was already present in the Southern Tagalog provinces like Laguna, Cavite, Quezon, and Bulacan and in the National Capital Region.

        The insect was brought into the country by importers of ornamental palm particularly the royal palm, which came from Taiwan, and was very popular among landscape designers.

        According to the PCA official, the pest was quite hard to detect as it takes three to five months before a symptom manifests on affected coconut tree.

        Bocalig said coconut trees affected by the infestation could be easily identified as its young leaves appear burned or scorched.

        As of March the affected areas were the towns of Sta. Elena and Daet in Camarines Norte, Naga City, Libmanan, Sipocot, Pili, Pasacao and San Fernando in Camarines Sur, Legaspi City, Daraga and Oas, Albay and Sorsogon City, Bulusan, Juban, Barcelona and Gubat here in Sorsogon.

        Bocalig said Brontispa Action Teams had already been created by the PCA regional office which monitored and launched measures to control the spread of the pest.

        Among the modes being adopted to control the pest were chemical control which was being done by direct spray to the affected tree and by trunk injection, mechanical control which was being done by cutting the affected leaves and biological control through the release of the pests natural enemies and through the use of a fungus called white muscardine fungus, Bocalig said.

        However, the fruits of coconut trees which were administered with trunk injection must not be eaten withing five to six months from the date of the injection as it would be contaminated by the pesticide, he added.

        He appealed to coconut farmers to immediately inform their office or the local officials of their locality of any presence of the insect or if there were coconut trees exhibiting the symptoms of the infestation.

        Bocalig said the presence of the pest would worsen the situation of the local coconut industry in the region which was hardest hit by the past super-typhoons.