In
the province of Davao, little was known about the wonders
of trichogramma. That was until a small laboratory in Tagum
City began to cultivate the tiny creatures in huge volumes.
For
quite some time, farmers in Davao have had to contend with
one of agriculture’s oldest foes, crop pests. Corn
and cacao borers posed a serious threat as they considerably
shrunk the amount of good harvest. At the time, the popular
solution was to apply chemical pesticides. Unfortunately,
this leads to new problems; among which are the probable
absorption of chemicals by crops and the development of
higher resistance in the pests.
Natural
methods were more in line with how the stakeholders envision
the problem solved. After studying the trichogramma for
some time, the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office was
convinced that it had found the key. These almost microscopic
wasps (0.5 mm; 1/50 inch) prevent crop damage by killing
their hosts before the insects can cause plant damage. The
short life cycle of 8-10 days allows the wasp population
to increase rapidly. In fact, the wasps continue to multiply
as long as there are corn and cacao borers around. In addition,
these wasps are harmless to people, animals, and plants.
It is but natural that most farmers, when given the alternative,
selected the cheaper, safer and more effective biological
control agent.
This
program was successfully adopted by 83% of Davao farmers,
who saved Php 1,000 per treatment of each hectare of crop
field. Production was up by 150%. And hazards brought about
by the use of chemical pesticides were effectively eliminated.
