Philippine coconut farmers warn over pesticide use
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Alarmed over the spread of a debilitating disease that is destroying coconut farms in Luzon, Mindanao coconut farmers are calling for an island-wide summit to prevent the infestation from wiping out the coconut industry here.
Rene Pamintuan, co-convenor of the Save the Coconut Movement, said millions of coconut trees are dying in Luzon, particularly in the Southern Tagalog region due to widespread infestation by coconut scale insect, also known as cocolisap.
Pamintuan said there are already cases of cocolisap attacks in several provinces in Mindanao but this has not yet reached the level of destruction that hit Laguna and Batangas.
