“WITCHES” are attacking the provinces of Northern Mindanao and government officials are wary of its impact among farmers in the region. Larry E. Paraluman, the regional corn coordinator of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Northern Mindanao, said that the “cassava witches’ broom” disease is threatening thousands of hectares of cassava crops in the region.
Unless the government adopts an appropriate measure, Northern Mindanao, which produces 601,000 metric tons, or more than a quarter of the country’s total cassava production, intends to loss Php 1.48 billion in terms of revenue. Paraluman said that Northern Mindanao is the second largest cassava producing region in the country, next only to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Armm) in Mindanao’s Central Mindanao.
A “cassava witches’ broom disease,” got its moniker after the broom-like leaf growth at the top of the plant, and attacks the starch in the roots. It is actually a cassava “Phytoplasma Disease.”
Paraluman said that a “Pytoplasma candidatus asteris,” is a systematic and major disease of cassava, which would result in 100 percent yield loss. The disease usually starts five months after planting until harvest. He said that that cassava witches’ broom disease has laid siege on the seven towns in Bukidnon planted with thousands of hectares of cassava crops early this year.
The disease was first monitored in the town of Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon early this year before it quickly spread to Baungon, Sumilao, Lantapan, Pangantucan, Don Carlos, Quezon, all towns of Bukidnon. The sudden spread and the severe effect of the witches’ broom prompted the Agriculture Secretary to quarantine the entire province of Bukidnon, Paraluman said. (PNA)
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