Tungro disease on rice in the Philippines

Rice tungro infestation has damaged rice farms in 11 municipalities in the province of Antique. The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) placed the total worth of damage at PHP 8.5 million [about USD 180 000].

The IPM [Integrated Pest Management] coordinator said the virus was last seen in this scale during 1982.
 
It is one of the most harmful diseases for rice plants. It is spread by the green and zigzag leafhoppers, common pests in rice paddies. The OPA issued several recommendations for managing the disease, such as discouraging 3 croppings a year for communities with confirmed infection, synchronous planting for whole communities, plowing infected seedbeds, and eliminating weeds that serve as hosts for the rice tungro virus.
 
Based on the inventory of all government stocks, secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured Filipinos that rice supply is stable. He said that apart from the stocks held in 500 warehouses all over the country, ongoing harvests in the Visayas and Mindanao will boost the inventory. The government also has started importing rice and initial shipments will arrive by January 2010. "All in all, we are looking at about 140 days worth of stocks," he stressed, as he sought to allay fears.